Green Apple Parmesan Towers Recipes

Steps:

• Chill the bowl and blade of a food processor for 1 hour before starting.
• For the dough: To the food processor, add the flour and salt and pulse to combine. Add the cold butter and the cheese and pulse 3 or 4 times or until chickpea-sized pieces of butter remain. With the machine running, drizzle in the ice water until the dough just starts to come together. Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and form into a flat disk. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least an hour and up to 2 days.
• Position an oven rack on the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• For the filling: In a medium bowl, combine the apples, sugar, lemon juice, flour, salt and cinnamon. Toss well to coat evenly.
• Divide the dough in half. Roll out one of the dough pieces to an approximately 11-inch round and line the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate. Fill the pie crust with the apple mixture. Roll out the remaining dough into another 11-inch round and place on top. Trim the edges so there is a 1/2-inch overhang around the plate. Tuck the overhang under itself and press down to seal the edge. Using 2 knuckles and the tip of your finger, crimp the edges to make a decorative edge. Cut an X in the center of the top pie crust and open the corners to make a small hole in the center of the pie. Brush the pie evenly with the egg and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.
• Place on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the crust is deep golden brown and the mixture inside is bubbling, about 45 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cool for at least 2 hours before serving.

Steps:

• To make a quick marinara sauce, place a saucepot over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds more. Pour in the red wine and cook for 1 minute to reduce. Using your hands or a potato masher, crush the tomatoes and add to the saucepot, including any juices from the can. Stir to combine. Add 1 whole stem of fresh basil leaves. Bring the sauce to a simmer and reduce the heat to medium low. Allow the sauce to continuing cooking while the rest of the components are prepared.
• Pour the vegetable oil into a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot and attach a deep-frying thermometer. Heat the oil over medium heat to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with paper towels and top with a cooling rack.
• Set up 3 low-sided dishes to make a breading station: To the first dish, add the flour, Italian seasoning and garlic powder. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper and stir to combine. In the second dish, beat the eggs. To the third dish, add the breadcrumbs.
• Dredge both sides of the eggplant slices in the seasoned flour, shaking each piece to remove any excess. Next, dip the eggplant slices into the egg, allowing it to drip before moving onto the third dish. Then, coat the eggplant in the breadcrumbs evenly on both sides.
• Working in batches, carefully place the breaded eggplant into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown and crispy, about 30 seconds per side. Transfer to the cooling rack on the baking sheet. Sprinkle each slice generously with kosher salt. Continue this process until all the eggplant rounds have been fried.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the basil stem from the marinara sauce.
• Remove the paper towels from the baking sheet. Build towers on the cooling rack: Top a slice of eggplant with 1 tablespoon of marinara sauce, 1 tablespoon mozzarella, 1 tablespoon Parmesan and 1 basil leaf. Place a second piece of eggplant on top and repeat this process. Top the tower with a third piece of eggplant and repeat only with sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan (no basil). Repeat this process to create 8 towers on the cooling rack.
• Bake until the cheese is melted and slightly browned on top, about 20 minutes. Transfer the towers to a serving platter. Garnish each eggplant tower with a fresh basil leaf and serve immediately.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Trim off the tough end of the beans and arrange the beans on a nonstick cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil season with salt and pepper, to taste. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top and bake until the cheese melts and forms a crisp shell over the beans, about 10 minutes. Let the beans sit a few minutes for the cheese to cool slightly. Lift the beans out onto a platter and serve.

Steps:

• Combine lime juice, lemon juice, honey, mustard, ginger, chervil, and lemon balm in the bowl of a food processor; pulse until blended. Pour olive oil in slowly, with the processor running, until sauce is smooth.
• Cover apple slices with the sauce in a bowl and chill in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.
• Build 4 towers on each of 4 salad plates by inserting Parmesan cheese slices between apple slices. Drizzle stacks with sauce, and place extra sauce in a spoon on each plate.