Vegetable stuffed aubergines (eggplants)

I'm proud of myself this week. The mini harvest festival I bought last week was not wasted, not even a pea as I promised myself. Although, that's not exactly true, seeing as the peas were like little bullets even after 10 minutes of cooking, so alas, some of them  were cruelly discarded, but, everything else was eaten. This post is about the last of the produce, one aubergine left to stuff with a mixture of tomatoes, peppers, peas, zucchinis and some cheese, always some cheese.

The eggplant has always been a little bit of a challenge for me. Other than in Moussaka or as Baba Ganoush, I don't really know what to do with it and I find if it is not cooked until absolutely tender, it is pretty inedible with a tough, fibrous texture. Also, its capacity to soak up oil is legendary, so I've always shied away a little. But, with such a beauty as I had,  I wanted to try something different.

The filling was a gently fried mix of many vegetables, guaranteed to soften and sweeten when exposed to slow sauteing. Tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic and some chili.

Also, a zucchini, or courgette as we say over the pond, fried with a little paprika to add some ohh la la.

The eggplants were stuffed, sprinkled with an obscene amount of cheese and baked until it was golden brown and bubbling. To be honest, they look pretty enough but the eggplant was still kind of chewy in a not too pleasant way. I took all my filling out and left the eggplant shell. Neil, probably not wanting to hurt my feelings, ate the whole thing.

They accompanied some pork loin, marinated in a strange mixture of hot Jerk seasoning and mayonnaise, stirred together and poured over the loin. It made a creamy spicy glaze that had just enough heat to remain interesting and creamy enough to ensure the pork was nice and succulent. (If you're wondering why my pork is pink, read this).

Recipe : Stuffed eggplants

1 eggplant, cut length ways in half.

1 tbsp oil

Stuffing

1 tsp oil and 1 tsp butter

1 small onion, peeled and diced

1 clove garlic, peeled and diced

1 chili pepper, seeded and sliced

6 small tomatoes, quartered

1 small bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 small zucchini, sliced

2 tbsp peas

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp paprika

1/2 cup grated cheese

Preheat the oven to 425oF

Place the eggplant on a baking sheet, drizzle with oil and bake for about 30 minutes, you may find they need longer to soften completely, this is where I should have checked how tender they actually were.

To make the stuffing

Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan over medium heat and add the onion, pepper, garlic, chili and tomatoes. Reduce heat and fry gently until everything is soft and turning to a mush.

Heat a little oil in another pan and gently fry the zucchini until soft, adding some paprika to taste and then add to the pan or simply add the zucchini to the other vegetables at the beginning and sprinkle everything with the paprika.

Boil the peas in some salted water for a few minutes, drain and add to the other vegetables. 

Season everything well with salt and black pepper and maybe a little more paprika.

Remove the eggplants from the oven and scoop out the insides, making sure you don't pierce the skin. Stuff with the vegetables, sprinkle with the cheese and re-bake for a further 20 minutes until the cheese is golden and the eggplant soft.