Stuffed eggplant is a hearty and flavorful dish made with simple, wholesome ingredients like eggplant, onions, garlic, bell pepper, ground meat, tomato sauce, and cheese. It’s a comforting and versatile meal perfect for any occasion

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes
Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients 

• ▢ 4 small globe eggplants
• ▢ 2 medium onions finely diced
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ extra virgin olive oil for roasting and sautéing
• ▢ 1 green bell pepper finely diced
• ▢ ¾ pound ground beef and pork mixture or vegetarian meat alternative
• ▢ good quality tomato sauce or passata (tomate frito in Spain)
• ▢ mozzarella cheese grated
• ▢ sea salt to taste
• ▢ black pepper to taste

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
• Wash the eggplants, then cut them in half lengthwise. Place them on a baking sheet and score the flesh in a crosshatched pattern, being careful not to cut through the skin. Drizzle with a generous amount of olive oil, and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.
• Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until flesh is tender. Tent the eggplants with foil and let them rest for 15 minutes while you prepare the filling.
• Heat a little olive oil in a skillet until hot, then sauté the onion, pepper, and garlic until softened. While the veggies are cooking, scoop out the flesh from each eggplant and add it to the pan.
• When the vegetables are starting to brown, add the ground meat (or the vegetarian meat alternative) and sauté until cooked through. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then remove from the heat and let it rest for a few minutes.
• To fill the skins, spread a layer of tomato sauce in the empty skins, then fill each one to the top with the meat mixture. Cover with grated mozzarella cheese.
• Pop the tray of stuffed eggplants under the broiler until the cheese is browned on the top, then let them rest for about 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy while hot and fresh!

Notes

• Be careful not to cut through the skin when scoring the eggplant, or you’ll have a hole where the filling can leak through.
• Let the baked eggplants rest tented with foil for 15 minutes, which will make it easier to scoop out the flesh before stuffing.
• Swap the ground meat with a vegetarian/vegan combo of cooked chickpeas, lentils, walnuts, mushrooms, and parsley to taste.

Nutrition

Serving: 2eggplant halves |
Calories: 464.5kcal |
Carbohydrates: 39.7g |
Protein: 22.65g |
Fat: 26.39g |
Saturated Fat: 8.45g |
Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.68g |
Monounsaturated Fat: 13.03g |
Trans Fat: 1.05g |
Cholesterol: 64.81mg |
Sodium: 628.87mg |
Potassium: 1755.16mg |
Fiber: 16.73g |
Sugar: 23.55g |
Vitamin A: 687.57IU |
Vitamin C: 45.77mg |
Calcium: 117.58mg |
Iron: 4.04mg |