Baked Eggplant With Ricotta, Mozzarella and Anchovy Recipe (2024)

Have to chuckle at the people who try to replace anchovies in everything. If you don't tell them they are there, in most recipes, they would never know, as they melt away to pure unami...but take them away and the recipe looses a hidden layer of natural saltiness that olives, capers and other substitutes can't really provide. That said, thinly sliced or chopped salt cured black olives are a great ADDITION to the dish!

The accompanying photo shows eggplant that has not been peeled (or at least that's what it looks like to me) in contrast to the instructions. I could imagine the recipe with peeled or unpeeled eggplant, but would appreciate knowing if, in fact, it does need to be peeled. In any case it does sound delizioso. I also appreciate the convenience of not having to fry the eggplant first in preparation.

I live in a small city -- 23,000 folks -- in Iowa. My choices for anchovies are limited to the Roland brand. I haven't seen another brand since leaving NYC 10 years ago. Is there a brand that is universally beloved that I might order online? Thanks. Ron

As someone suggested above, I would try olives and capers to substitute for the anchovies. Want to make this for a vegetarian friend, so I'm very interested in hearing if anyone has tried it that way.

I love anchovies and eggplant in any form. I was attracted to this recipe because there was no pre-baking or frying involved. However the final result following the recipe exactly gets you a dish that is far too heavy on the cheese. Next time I would halve the amount of both ricotta and provolone. Also try hard to use anchovies preserved in salt and use the filets after rinsing in water. Ordinary super market canned anchovies are far too salty and have a poor texture.

The aversion to anchovies baffles me. I put anchovies in everything except ice cream and coffee.

ok the suspense is KILLING me. thanks to Deborah for being the first to point out that the recipe itself says 'peeled' eggplant while the photo clearly shows UNPEELED. which is it????????

On serving plate overlap alternate slices of tomato, blood orange, and mozzarella. Sprinkle with minced garlic, a little salt, and oregano and/or basil. Drizzle with olive oil. (If blood orange isn't available use thinly sliced sweet red onion.) Amazing, will be your new favorite salad.

No need to chuckle. Some people are vegetarians and anchovies aren't a vegetable. At least not any that I've found.

Made this for 4th of July, substituting green olives and capers for anchovies, with some sliced mushrooms in the middle as well. Was a big hit.

Because I did not have all the cheeses listed in the recipe, I made some substitutions. I used ricotta, unsmoked mozzarella, piave vecchio and good parm. Because it was just two of us eating, I used a perfect medium sized eggplant and did not overlap the slices when I put them in a 8" sq. pan. This will be one of my Go-to summer recipes.

Thanks Mr. Tanis. What an exciting recipe! We love eggplant and especially ANCHOVIES! The idea of their combination is already mouth-watering! Might use caciocavallo which we also like a lot.

Anchovy filets packed in olive oil are very strongly flavoured and incredibly salty. The solution is better anchovies. Try salt-packed anchovies like Agostino Recca or Scalia, both available online. They come in large cans, so one option is to go in with someone else and share a can, storing half each in your fridges in glass containers. You soak them in water for about half an hour, and clean them under running water. Ironically, they are far less salty than the jarred kind and very yummy.

Can't wait to make this! The idea of not having to fry or bake eggplant first, but just assemble is so enticing!

Tasty, but texture was not great. It baked 1 1/4 hours and the eggplant and onion (all thinly sliced) were still underdone. Also, a lot of liquid came out of the eggplant. If I make this again, I may pre-bake or pre-nuke the eggplant slices, sautee the onions, and use more breadcrumbs on the top (1/4 cup wasn't nearly enough to make a crunchy topping).

Looking for a recipe to use eggplants from my garden, so gave this a shot. I love cheese, but I should have known from reading the ingredients that this would be just too cheesy. Won’t make it again.

I omitted onions but added minced garlic which, along with the red pepper flakes and cheeses, gave this simple comforting dish a deep flavor, and homemade breadcrumbs on top were a nice crunch on the soft eggplant.

I made this exactly to recipe; man was it Salty! I don't believe the eggplant needed salt and pepper after slicing. The amount of salt in the cheeses was plenty. I didn't get a chance to read all the notes on this dish, but the one I would have liked to read was the one about the anchovies in oil. I didn't know they would be that salty. I believe it compromised the dish. If using sardines in oil, use very sparingly!

I just made this for one serving and loosely followed instructions. I can't deal with little anchovies looking at me so I just mixed in some anchovy paste with the ricotta. I'm not worried about oil but I did neglect to put oil on the first layer of eggplant. Didn't have any provolone so pretty much skipped that (used a tiny bit of provel that was past its prime). Didn't salt the eggplant per others recommendations. The dish was very good! I'd make it again. Didn't taste like it needed salt.

Made a totally bastardised version of this. Extra (cooked) eggplant, less cheese (and reg mozz). Cooked onions and a bunch of mushrooms, garlic, spinach and mixed it with the ricotta and some soft cheese. Added two thin layers of tomato sauce I wanted to get rid of. Used a whole tin of anchovies half melted in a pan and mixed with ricotta half chopped mixed with breadcrumbs. Very good! Next time more anchovies and cheese and no tomato to see what it's like. Not too salty! Actually added some.

As a cheese addict, I never thought I would say this, but there is too much cheese in this dish. It is very good, very rich and easy to make, though. Next time, I'll reduce the provolone and mozzarella.

I should have known better than to salt both sides of the eggplant slices. I will make it again without salt. Other ideas here also seem worth trying.

I used a 250g ball of smoked scamorza sliced and a 250g ball of plain scamorza grated in place of the smoked mozz and provolone. Followed the given amounts of eggplant and ricotta but it fit perfectly in my 9x9 stoneware baking dish. Used panko for the breadcrumbs and pre-roasted the eggplant slices for 15 minutes at 200 C. Was a little watery at the bottom after 45 minutes of resting but an hour later it was all re-absorbed. So next time I'll let it rest for at least 90 min before slicing. Yum!

Followed the recipe plus added garlic. The dish desperately needed some acid.

This dish was lovely, as are all of David Tanis' recipes, and is so typically and classically David Tanis, elegant but unfussy. Smoked mozzarella would have been divine, but I could not obtain it locally. I did not bother peeling the eggplant and never do. This recipe is a keeper and was really warming on a cool and damp evening and super-easy to make. The anchovies really nail it.

I've made this so often I know it by heart. Since salt is a no-no in our late 80s, we skip the anchovies and use less cheese, but this has become a treat we look forward to almost weekly...eggplant without frying of presalting...just special!

The flavors in this easy recipe are great (though I'd add chopped garlic), but the texture isn't as good. To get that silky, melting eggplant, it would help to quickly fry the slices before layering them.

Delicious! I layered in a bag of frozen spinach to add a little green, and we served it on crusty sourdough.

You don't have to peel the eggplants & you don't need all those cheeses. I did this with 4 little eggplants (salt & pepper on both sides of all the slices). Added lemon zest, garlic & dried oregano to the ricotta before spreading it on, drizzled honey on the ricotta, grated pecorino on that, then moved on to 2nd eggplant layer. Topped w/pecorino, parmesan, bread crumbs, anchovies. Baked 45m @ 375 but then did 425 for 15m because the eggplant on top was still a little tough. The result: Winning!