I saw a large, round aubergine at Bohm’s last week and just had to have it. I’ve seen the miniature purple and white ones before, but this was the first time I’d seen the large variety. My fruit and vegetable caregiver in Bohm’s told me that it was a Sicilian variety. Alrighty then!
This recipe is not Sicilian, though the eggplant is. I did look at some Sicilian recipes on the net but there was way too much talk of including raisins. I decided to go rogue and cook something vaguely Italian with whatever I had in the kitchen, cooking the eggplant being the point, not authenticity.
I immediately started to stress about cutting the eggplant; vertical or horizontal? About how the lovely deep purple would turn to unattractive grayish, brown, collapsed heap in the oven.
I think this was a bad cooking day for me today; I lacked confidence but I really wanted to cook this eggplant. I cut it horizontally and accepted the nature of oven eggplant.
My lovely Sicilian aubergine cooked up a nut brown AND maintained it’s shape 🙂 For vegetarian goodness, leave out the ground meat.
Stuffed Sicilian Aubergine
1 large, round Sicilian eggplant
1 cup ground steak
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 purple onion, chopped
1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves chopped
4 basil leaves, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper
1/2 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
Olive oil
Crumbled feta
Fresh basil leaves, snipped
Cut the eggplant in half horizontally and hollow both sides out, creating two firm shaped “bowls”. Chop the eggplant flesh and reserve.
Quickly cook the ground steak in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add the other tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and saute the onion, pepper and garlic until the onion is almost soft. Add the reserved, chopped eggplant and continue to saute the mixture for 2-3 minutes. Add the basil, sugar and tomatoes, season with salt and pepper then simmer for about 20 minutes.
Spread half the sauce on the bottom of a baking pan. Mix the other half with the ground steak and beans, then stuff into the eggplant halves. Put the stuffed halves in the baking pan on top of the sauce, brushing the cut edges with olive oil, cover with aluminum foil and bake in a 350 F oven for 40 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and continue to bake for another 15-20 minutes.
Top with feta and basil leaves.
Wine suggestion: Chianti
Just perfect and even though it lost its colour it did hold its shape which was a bonus, and i bet it tasted lovely.. have a wonderful day rosemary.. c
Thank you c. I sort of liked the nut brown color 🙂
Looks fantastic!
Thank you Jon.
Looks delicious! Is the eggplant about the size of a cantaloupe?
Thank you Tessa. Yes, I think it was about that size.
Such beautiful photos! Whenever I view your blog, I am reminded that I must get a new camera and try and take better pictures. Your photos are such an inspiration.
Thank you very much Jeannee. I don’t know what kind of camera you have but it looks like it’s working!
An Iphone and other small point/shoot. They work OK for distance but don’t do what you want for food shots.
But thank you 🙂
That looks lovely. The stand out word in the post is ‘caregiver’. Are you/they serious?
Best,
Conor
I made the title up but I’m serious 🙂
I might sell that to one of our retail customers. If I do, I’ll split the cash!
😀
I’m completely with you! Your recipe sounds great and much better without raisins, though I have been watching Montalbano lately and really want to visit Sicily soon 🙂
I’ve always wanted to visit Sicily since The Godfather 😀
I’ve just bought the kindle edition of the first novel. Thanks for the tip!
I don’t know why I’ve never thought to stuff an eggplant, but this looks delicious!
Hi. I’ve stuffed them before and they are good but I don’t like it when they fall apart, are too greasy or turn an unattractive color. Peppers, zucchini and tomatoes hold up better.
These turned out perfectly.. I love that they can be individual servings:)
Thank you Barbara. They are like little bowls 🙂
Looks and sounds fantastic. I am a huge aubergine fan…Big Man less so…but I could just cook this for myself and indulge alone!
Thank you Chica. Yes you could!
Thinking of Sicilian food for lunch.
I hope you find it 🙂
Already did! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
What a lovely dish. This turned out perfectly! So beautiful even in the shade of nut brown.
Thank you Karista.
Beautiful! I love stuffed veggies. I stuffed mushrooms myself today. I put pics on my blog if you want to try the recipe:0) Please keep sharing, this is great stuff!
Thank you. I did have a look at your mushrooms and blog. Fabulous!
That looks fantastic! What beautiful colors. Bravo, Rosemary!
Thank you Daisy. I have to admit, I was proud of this aubergine 🙂
It is truly stunning. That is a showstopper of a dish!
Pingback: Baked rainbow trout with vegetables « Chef Doru's Blog
I made something like this yesterday but instead of stuffing it win aubergines I just baked it in a casserole with chickpeas
That sounds delicious. I’ve got to do something with chickpeas soon!
Pingback: Stuffed Sicilian Aubergine | À Catanada na Cozinha Magazine | Scoop.it
Pingback: Global Cuisine: Edition 7 | KolorBlind Mag
Pingback: The Fainting Imam « The Great Dorset Vegetable Experiment
Pingback: Eggplant “Meat”balls « Wine & Plum
Pingback: Eggplant “Meat”balls « Wine & Plum
Pingback: Ensaladilla de Tumbet, Majorcan Salad « To Cook With Love
Pingback: Aubergine satay « Green and Ginger
Oh thank you for sharing. Looks delicious. Does it taste the same as regular eggplant? How did it taste?
It tastes the same as regular eggplant, just a different shape.