I picked up a bag of eggplants for a steal at the fruit barn on the weekend and for the last day or two I have have the idea of stuffed eggplants running through my head. We were given an early mark at work today and on the train home all I could think about was that bag of eggplants. Dinner was great tonight and I am so looking forward to leftovers for lunch the next two days.
Stuffed Eggplants
4-6 medium eggplants
olive oil
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
3 anchovies
1 carrot
2 eschallots
1 capsicum
100g diced pancetta
1 large field mushroom
1 large tsp pesto
6 sage leaves, torn
3 sprigs thyme, leaves picked
2-4 tbsp tomato passata
1/2 cup white wine
breadcrumbs and a cheese of your choice to top (my choice was pecorino)Slice the eggplants in half lengthwise. Using a paring knife, slice/scoop the flesh out and dice into 1cm cubes. Finley dice the onion, carrot, garlic, capsicum and mushroom. Slice the eschallots. In a large pot, heat the olive oil and sweat the onion and garlic. Then add the carrot, capsicum, eschallots and sauté for 4-5 minutes. Finely chop the anchovies and with the pancetta add to the pot and continue to cook for a few minutes before adding the mushrooms, pesto and herbs. Cook for a few minutes before adding the wine, allow the wine to cook off for a moments before adding the passata. Allow to cook for a few more minutes. Spoon the filling into the eggplant halves, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and grated cheese. In a moderate oven bake the eggplants for roughly 30 minutes, serve with polenta and salad or just by themselves.
After stuffing the eggplants I had a good amount of filling left over so I roughly chopped up another capsicum, carrot, mushroom, more pancetta and a zucchini and added them to the pot with more wine and pasaata. Season to taste. I brought the pot to a simmer and allowed to cook for a good 30 minutes before freezing into portions to be used for a quick pasta dish.
