Eggplant grilled cheese with cherry tomatoes, zaatar, tahini and Yemenite hot sauce

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A stacked eggplant grilled cheese sandwich filled with melted cheese, cherry tomatoes, zucchini slices, and eggplant on a piece of brown parchment paper. A bowl of green sauce and leafy greens are partially visible in the background.

Eggplant grilled cheese with cherry tomatoes, zaatar, tahini and Yemenite hot sauce

The Middle Eastern grilled cheese is filled with oozing Jarlsberg cheese, melted over slices of grilled eggplant, cherry tomatoes and slathered in Yemenite green hot sauce and tahini.

Make this a gluten-free grilled cheese by using gluten-free bread. My favourites include Little Northern Bakehouse Honey Oat bread, or Promise Gluten-Free Rustic Sourdough Bread.

Course grilled cheese, Lunch, Main Course, sandwich, sandwiches

Cuisine Israeli, Jewish, Middle Eastern

Keyword cheese, cherry tomatoes, eggplant, grilled cheese, grilling, jalapeno, Jarlsberg, spicy, tahini, zaatar

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 30

Servings people

Calories 350kcal

Author Ksenia Prints

Equipment

Ingredients

⅓ cup olive oil
1 small eggplant
1 pint cherry tomatoes
2 slices of jarlsberg cheese per grilled cheese sandwich
1 tablespoon zaatar
2 slices of your favourite bread per grilled cheese sandwich gluten-free bread works great!

Yemenite hot sauce (schug):

2-3 jalapeno peppers
⅓ cup diced cilantro
3 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon cumin
pinch of cardamom
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon of black pepper

Tahini sauce:

4 tablespoon tahini paste
2 tablespoon water
¼ lemon juice of
salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Grill eggplant slices:

Slice eggplant into rounds or slices (depending on the size of your bread).
Bring a non-stick pan to medium heat. Add 4 tablespoons of oil. Arrange as many eggplant slices as a you can fit in a single layer, without overlapping, in the pan. Fry eggplant until both sides are browned, flipping in the middle, about 8-10 minutes in total. Remove eggplant slices onto a paper towel-covered plate, and sprinkle with salt.
Repeat until all eggplant slices are cooked, adding 2-3 tablespoons of oil with every batch.

Prepare tahini sauce

In a blender or a jar, mix raw tahini with water, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Stir, shake or blend well to combine. You should end up with a slightly runny, thick tahini sauce.

Make Yemenite hot sauce (schug)

Put all the schug ingredients in a food processor with a steel blade and process to a smooth mash. Store in a jar in the refrigerator.

Assemble Middle Eastern grilled cheese

On one piece of bread, spread a generous layer of tahini. Lay one slice of Jarlsberg cheese. Top with a few rounds or slices of grilled eggplant, a few halves of cherry tomatoes, and a sprinkling of zaatar spice. Top with another slice or two of Jarlsberg cheese.
Smear the next slice of bread with some Yemenite hot sauce. Top the sandwich with the second slice of bread, and press to seal.

Cook the Middle Eastern grilled cheese sandwich:

Smear bread with butter or olive oil on both sides. Cook in a panini press or in the same hot pan you cooked the eggplant, about 3-4 minutes per side, until the Jarlsberg cheese is melted and gooey. If cooking in a pan, try to weigh down the grilled cheese with a plate or lid or just press down with a spatula.
Serve eggplant grilled cheese immediately with additional Yemenite hot sauce and tahini for dipping. Mixing the tahini and Yemenite hot sauce also works really well!

Video

Nutrition