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Stuffed Eggplant or Aubergine | Print |
stuffed aubergine-eggplant_middle.jpg In Southern Italy the eggplant is a summer staple for all families. As it is quite inexpensive, and everyone with a patch of garden plants a few plants, you'll find a variety of recipes throughout the summer months in any country home. This variation of stuffed eggplant is made with fresh ingredients, is 100% authentic, and comes from the seaside town of Vasto.
Prep time: 1 hour. Bake time: 45 minutes.
For 4 people:

2 firm eggplants about 6-7 inches long
5 ripe roma tomatoes, blanched and peeled
2 Tablespoons chopped green bell pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
2 slices of mortadella (or ham), about 50 grams total
2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
3 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
6 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 can peeled tomatoes in juice
4 slices mozzarella cheese

















Start by blanching the roma tomatoes (drop them in boiling water) for about 30 seconds or until the peel starts to pull away. Drain them and peel them. Chop them into cubes and drain off as many seeds as you can. Using fresh ripe tomatoes makes a difference in the flavour of the final result. If you don't have access to fresh ripe tomatoes, you can 5 canned peeled tomatoes, drain off the juice and cut into cubes (this means you buy 2 cans of tomatoes for this recipe). Put these tomatoes into a large mixing bowl, as they will be part of the filling.

aubergine prep_middle.jpg Boil another pot of water. Add a teaspoon of salt to the water. Slice the eggplants in half, lengthwise, and boil them in the salted water for exactly 5 minutes. Let them cool.

While waiting for the water and the eggplants, prepare the other ingredients:

In a baking pan, put the can of peeled tomatoes (smash them up a bit), 4 Tablespoons of olive oil, and a sprinkling of salt. You can also add some bell pepper if you like, and some basil or other spices. Mix all this up. This will be what the eggplants bake on.

Chop the parsley, the mortadella, the bell peppers. Mince the garlic finely. Mix these ingredients in with the chopped tomatoes in the bowl.

Grate the parmesan cheese. Crack the egg and mix it in a small bowl on the side.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

By this time, your eggplants are cooled off. Using a serrated knife without a point, preferably, cut the middle out of the eggplant halves, onto a chopping board, leaving just the shell with no holes in it. Set the "shells" in the baking pan face up. Chop the carved out centers into tiny bits, about as big as a piece of penne pasta. Dump them into a pasta drainer and run them under cold water, squeezing them to eliminate any bitter juices, and to get rid of the seeds. Squeeze out excess water and put them into the bowl with the tomatoes and other chopped ingredients. Mix in 2 Tablespoons oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, the grated parmesan cheese, and the egg.

stuffed aubergine mixture_middle.jpg Fill each "eggplant shell" with this mixture. Cover the baking pan with foil and bake for 1/2 hour. Remove foil, add the slice of mozzarella cheese on top of each eggplant, and bake for another 15 minutes.

Let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. This recipe is even more delicious when made a day ahead of time. In the Italian meal, this dish is usually served with plenty of sliced bread, after a simple pasta or rice, or as a side dish with meat.

Excellent accompanied by a good Montepulciano D'Abruzzo wine.
 
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