Grilled Steak with Balsamic Madeira Reduction with a Baked Ricotta Parmigiana Mousse over Grilled Eggplant and Tomato Sorbet

I want to win a week in one of your Tuscany villas! A chance to be in Tuscany in a beautiful villa where I can shop and eat all of the delicious food that Tuscany has to offer? This recipe is entered in a competition to win a week in a Tuscan Villa!! A dream come true! For today’s meal, I am sharing with you a Grilled Steak with Balsamic Madeira Reduction with Baked Ricotta Parmigiana Mouse over Grilled Eggplant and Tomato Sorbet. I first had a steak prepared like this in Florence, the winter of 2011 and boy, would I love to have it there again! I made a delicious baked cheese mousse to go with the steak (just because I love cheese), some fresh grilled eggplant (because we need our veggies!) and a lovely, light Tomato Sorbet, a perfect palate cleanser. Enjoy!

Tomato Sorbet

3 large tomatoes

1 cup of granulated sugar

Clean and chop your tomatoes. Add the chopped tomatoes to a medium size container and put in the freezer for an hour and a half. Take them out, add to a food processor and mix on high until thoroughly blended. Prepare a medium size pot over medium heat and slowly pound in the tomato mix. Add the sugar and mix until blended. Pour the tomato sugar mix back into your container and put in the freezer for four hours. Serve with a garnish of fresh basil.

Baked Ricotta Parmigiana Mousse

¾ cup of ricotta cheese

5 tbsp. grated parmigiana

1 ½ tbsp. salt

1 ½ tbsp. pepper

1 ½ tbsp. crushed red pepper

1 tbsp. garlic powder

2 tbsp. Italian seasonings

1 egg

4 small ramekins

2 tbsp. olive oil

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. In a medium size bowl, mix the ricotta until smooth. Add the parmigiana, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasonings. Taste for flavor, if you want to add more seasoning, go ahead! Once it seasoned to your liking, add the egg and mix until combined.  Using the 2 tbsp. of olive oil, oil your ramekins and fill with the ricotta parmigiana mix. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until completely set. Take them out and let them cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Grilled Eggplant

1 medium size eggplant

4 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. salt

1 tbsp. pepper

1 tbsp. Italian seasonings

Clean and cut your eggplant into slices. Prepare a pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil, salt, pepper and Italian seasonings directly to the pan. Add the eggplant slices, flip them after 20 minutes or until slightly crispy. Once flipped, cook for another 15 minutes.

Grilled Steak with Balsamic Madeira Reduction

1 tbsp. peanut oil

1 ¼ pound prime boneless strip steak

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. smoked salt

1 tbsp. pepper

Prepare a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the peanut oil and allow to heat for around 3-4 minutes. Rub your steak with olive oil, smoked salt and pepper. Add to the skillet and cook on one side until medium rare, around 6 minutes, flip and allow to cook for another 6-7 minutes. Turn off the pan and move the steak to a plate to settle.

Balsamic Madera Reduction

6 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

½ cup of Madeira

Add the balsamic vinegar and Madeira to the cast iron skillet with the remaining liquid from the meat. Cook over medium heat until slightly thick and syrupy.

Assembling your plate:

Plate a circle of eggplant on your plate and place the Ricotta Parmigiana Mousse on top. Add a few slices of steak to the plate and glaze with some of the Balsamic Madeira Reduction. In a small cup on the side, scoop out some of the Tomato Sorbet and add a fresh leaf of basil. Buon Appetito!