Eggplant-Shrimp Rolls

Part of Hopper's entry in Iron Chef SA 028:Balsamic Battle

Ingredients

   * 2 medium sized eggplants
   * 12 king prawns (no shells)
   * olive oil
   * 2 onions
   * 2 garlic cloves
   * 2tbsp fruit vinegar
   * 3 tbsp of fresh ground parmesan cheese
   * 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
   * 1 tbsp tomato paste
   * 5 tbsp tomato puree
   * 1 tbsp each of fresh rosemary and fresh thyme (or replace with Italian herb mixture if you must)
   * 10 fresh basil leaves
   * salt
   * pepper

Instructions

Wash and clean the eggplants and cut lengthwise into slices of ca 3mm width. Chop up onions, garlic, rosemary and thyme. Keep 12 slices of eggplant, chop up the rest into fine pieces.

Brown both sides of the 12 of the slices in a pan with olive oil. Take out and set aside (use kitchen paper towels to rinse excess oil from slices).

Fry half of the onion and garlic in a pan with the cut up eggplant, thyme and rosemary in a bit of olive oil (3-4 tbsp should be enough). Deglaze with fruit vinegar, add tomato paste and parmesan cheese, season with salt and pepper and stir to form an even paste.

Spread the paste onto the eggplant slices

Fry king prawns in a pan with olive oil for about 3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Place 1 prawn on each eggplant slice and roll it up, secure with a toothpick.

Heat up some olive oil and brown the rolls from each side. Add remaining onions and garlic and sauté. Deglaze with balsamic vinegar, add tomato puree and heat up. Cut up basil leaves and add to pan, add salt and pepper to taste.