Food and Prop Styling by Shiri Feldman
Photography by Felicia Perretti

I had come up with the idea of using frozen ready-made breaded eggplant cutlets as a “slider” base, but I was toying with several options of how to top them. Once I paired them with this piquant and saucy pulled pastrami, it was a finger-licking sensation!

YIELDS 16 SLIDERS

• 2½–3-lb (1.13–1.36-kg) pastrami roast
• 2 Tbsp oil
• 2 large Spanish onions, diced
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ⅓ cup ketchup
• 2 Tbsp barbecue sauce
• 2 Tbsp yellow mustard
• 1½ Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Assembly

• 2 16-oz (450-g) bags breaded eggplant cutlets (about 16 cutlets)
• garlic mayo, for drizzling
• 2–3 jalapeño peppers, seeded and sliced or diced
• sliced radishes (optional)

Preheat oven to 250°F (120°C).

Place pastrami roast into a 9x13-inch (23x33-cm) pan filled with about 2–3 inches (5–7¹⁄₂cm) of water. Cover tightly and bake for 4–5 hours or until extremely tender. Drain the water and shred the pastrami using two forks to pull the meat in until fully shredded.

While pastrami is baking, heat 2 Tbsp oil in a large frying pan. Add diced onions and sauté over low heat until soft, brown, and caramelized, at least 35–45 minutes. Add brown sugar, ketchup, barbecue sauce, mustard, and vinegar and mix well to combine. Add to shredded pastrami and mix well until combined.

Heat eggplant cutlets according to package instructions, until crisp. To serve, mound about 2–3 tablespoons of pulled pastrami mixture onto each warm eggplant cutlet. Drizzle with spicy mayo and top with jalapeño peppers and radishes, if desired.

(Originally featured in Family Table, Issue 821)