Fried Green Tomatoes with Red Aioli Sauce

Ingredients

Aioli Sauce

• ½ cup light mayonnaise
• ¼ cup roasted red peppers, drained
• 1 large clove garlic, coarsely chopped

Fried Green Tomatoes

• 2 pounds firm green, unripe tomatoes
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs
• ⅔ cup coarse, yellow cornmeal
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• ⅛ teaspoon coarse grain black pepper
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• ½ cup oil, for frying

Preparation

Aioli Sauce

Combine mayonnaise, red peppers and garlic in a mini chopper. Process until well combined and fairly smooth, scraping down sides of chopper halfway through. Transfer to a small bowl. Refrigerate until serving.

Tomatoes

• Core tomatoes, then cut them into ¼-inch thick slices and dry on paper towels. Sprinkle with ⅛ tsp of salt.
• Set up a dredging station with (3) shallow dishes:
  1. Combine flour and ⅛ tsp of the salt in the first shallow dish. 
  2. Lightly beat eggs in the second dish.
  3. In the third dish, combine cornmeal, Parmesan cheese, ¼ tsp salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper.
• Coat tomato slices in seasoned flour, followed by egg mixture, then the cornmeal mixture.
• Heat oven to 200 degrees. 
• Heat ¼ cup oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and in a single layer, fry the coated tomato slices for 2 minutes on one side. Flip and fry the slices for another 2 minutes. 
• Transfer to a baking sheet fitted with a wire rack and keep warm in oven. 
• Repeat, coating all tomato slices with seasoned flour, egg and cornmeal mixture and adding oil as needed. 
• Serve warm with cold aioli on the side, and enjoy!