Stuffed aubergines

Children don’t love Stuffed aubergines, in general. Is the taste too strong or spicy for them? Who knows? I admit that, when I was little, I was never very happy to see them in my plate. Obviously, growing up my tastebuds have luckily changed in better I guess, allowing me to finally have the great pleasure to enjoy this fruit like I never did before.

I am going to tell a small secret that I kept to myself, and only my husband knows, for which my children might resent me forever.

Here it is. Like I said, children aren’t kin on eating Stuffed aubergines, nor my children. They have though eaten them without knowing it to this very moment, except for the obvious purple shell which has been, and still is, systematically left in the plate: what I mean is that only the stuffing with the minced meat was, and still is, eaten and the aubergine shell, la barchetta or little boat, is ignored and left on the plate. The truth is that the stuffing, contains not only minced meat and herbs and bread etc., contains as well, and always did, the flesh of the aubergines. Therefore, all the goodness of this fruit was assimilated anyway by eating the stuffing! And they love the stuffing!

Sorry, guys, I did this with my best motherly intentions. My mother did the same to me.

Raw aubergines at their best for making Stuffed aubergines 

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Ingredients 4 servings

1. Aubergines, 4

2. Minced beef meat, 200 g

3. Onion, small, finely chopped, 1

4. Garlic cloves, chopped, 2

5. Tin plum tomatoes, 200 g

6. Capers preserved in salt, washed and cut in half, 2 tbsp

7. Eggs, medium, 1

8. Parsley, chopped, 3 tbsp

9. Basil, few leaves

10. Oregano, 3 tbsp

11. Nutmeg, 1.5 tsp

12. Bread crumbs or leftover bread cut in small cubes, 80 g

13. Parmesan, grated, 100 g

14. Mozzarella, diced, 100 g

15. Extra virgin olive oil, 2-3 tbsp

16. Red wine (optional), 20 ml

17. Salt and pepper

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Let’s jump to the method

1. Get all the ingredients ready to be used in the Stuffed aubergines recipe

2. Half the aubergines lenghtway, including the green branch.

3. Spoon out the flesh leaving a boarder of 1 cm. Put aside.

4. Salt each empty aubergine and keep for 5 minutes side up, then turn them upside down to allow the water to drain off for at least 1/2 hour.

5. Dice the aubergines flesh, season with salt and pepper and put aside.

6. Chop the plum tomatoes coarsely with a potato masher and put aside.

7. Set up the oven at 180 C

8. Add 2-3 tbsp of olive oil in frying pan and warm up. Then, add the crushed garlic cloves and soon after the onion to brown until golden.

9. Add the diced flesh aubergines and cook for 5-7 minutes at medium/low temperature, stirring from time to time.

10. Add 2/3 of the mashed tomatoes, keeping some for later. Continue to cook until the vegetables are soft, approx. 7-8 minutes..

11. Now, add the oregano, the parsley, the cappers and the bread or breadcrumbs.

12. Season with salt and pepper, stir to combine and take off the heat. Put aside.

13. Get ready the empty aubergines to be stuffed: dry the excess of water with kitchen paper and brush on some olive oil in the outside and inside. Position them in a baking tray ready to be filled.

14. Add the egg to the raw minced beef, season, mix them together, then add 2/3 of the stuffing mixture. Stir to combine, then spoon it into the aubergines on the baking tray, pressing a bit. Now, cover the aubergines with the rest of the stuffing that was kept aside and flatten it. Spray with 1 tbsp of wine each (optional).

15. Add the rest of the tomatoes on top of each aubergine, some basil leaf, sprinkle with ground nutmeg, oregano and salt.

16. Top up with diced mozzarella and grated parmesan, drizzle with olive oil and bake it at 180 C for 35-40 minutes.

17. Serve and Buon Appetito!

Stuffed Aubergines