Eggplant and Red Bell Pepper Focaccia Sandwich

[jaybeeunix]

I picked up a cheap vegetarian cookbook (ooh, with pretty pictures!) Saturday when I was at Borders with adaon . After reading and seeing all the tasty uses of eggplant I decided I need to make a few.

Ingredients

• EVOO for sautéing (Fat people are jolly 'cuz fat makes people happy.)
• a small eggplant (Eggplants are like me: They soak up any fat near them.) I only used about half of the pictured eggplant.
  
• a loaf of focaccia cut into two halves (Why don't any spell checkers know this word?!)
• Tomato paste (Who would have thought something so dry would taste so good?)
• a small onion, finely diced (It's not about the size of your onion, but how you use it that matters.)
• a small red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips (It's not bad enough that the peppers are healthy, but they have to be cut into skinny lil' strips?!)
• fresh chopped cilantro (Like me, it can be a lil' strong: Use in moderation.)
• grated Cheddar cheese (I like my cheese like my men, sharp.)
• grated Parmesan cheese (I thought these cheese were an odd combo, so this recipe is like cheese integration.)

Instructions

1. Toast the focaccia until it is golden.
2. Slice the eggplant into about 0.5" thick slices.
3. Sauté the eggplant in the evoo until golden: Drain on paper towels.
4. When the focaccia is ready, spread a thin layer of tomato paste on it.
5. Layer the vegetables on the sandwich.
6. Sprinkle the cheeses on the sandwich.
7. Top with a lil' cilantro.
8. Bake/toast the sandwiches until the cheese is melted: Serve warm.

BTW, I left the cilantro outta' the ingredients pic, but you can clearly see it in the final product. Also, the final picture shows half the pictured loaf prepared.