One of the things I’ve been trying to do as part of my health journey is to eat more vegetables. One way I’ve been doing that is by adding veggies like carrots and celery to some of my traditional recipes, like my bean chili. Another way I’m doing it is by making a meatless dinner at least once a week. Last night’s dish was a delicious stuffed and baked eggplant so today I’m sharing that recipe with you! This recipe can be doubled to make enough for a second weeknight dinner. I could just imagine Carlo from NEVER A BRIDE making something tasty like this for a dinner with Emma!

Ingredients

Sauce

1 14.5 ounce can of crushed/diced tomatoes (I love Hunts Fire Roasted for making a small pot of sauce)
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1 tbsp tomato paste
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice the eggplant in half and cut off a bit of the skin side so that eggplant boat will lay flat. Scoop out the inside of the eggplant, but do not cut through the bottom.

Oil a baking pan and lightly oil the scooped out eggplant halves. I used a spray cooking oil.

Lay the halves scooped side down on the baking pan and bake for 30 minutes. (Nothing worse than squeaky eggplant!)

Chop the scooped out eggplant and bottoms you sliced off and saute in about 1 tbsp olive oil. Cook for about 5 minutes and then add the mushrooms until they are all a nice golden color. Transfer to a mixing bowl big enough to hold all the ingredients.

Saute the carrot and celery for about 5 minutes or so and then add half of the onions. Saute until the onions are translucent and then add half of the chopped garlic and cook for another minute or two. Add to eggplant and mushrooms in mixing bowl.

Beat the egg and add to the mixing bowl together with the ricotta, mozzarella and 3/4 cup of the bread crumbs. Mix well.

While you’re waiting for the first bake of the eggplant, get to work on the tomato sauce! Saute the onions in a tbsp of olive oil until translucent. Add garlic and saute for another minute or two. If you like a slightly spicier sauce, add some red pepper flakes while you’re cooking the onions. Add the crushed/diced tomatoes and the tomato paste and simmer for about half an hour or to desired thickness. I like my sauce thick!

Back to the eggplant. Remove eggplant boats from the oven and flip over. You’ll notice that there is some steam coming off the halves. Fill each half evenly and sprinkle with the remaining bread crumbs and parmesan.

Bake for another half an hour at 350 degrees and then kick up the heat to 425 for another 20 minutes or so (or until the tops are a golden brown). Remove from the oven and let sit for about 5-10 minutes so they will be cool enough to eat. Top with the tomato sauce and more parmesan to serve.

Hope you enjoyed today’s Tuesday Tip. Let me know if you try it out yourselves!