Melanzane Ripiene (Stuffed Eggplant)

Melanzane ripiene or stuffed eggplant is a delicious and relatively easy dish. This recipe does not contain any meat, making it the perfect alternative for a hardy vegetarian meal. Here’s my recipe to make stuffed eggplant at home!

Ingredients

6 Eggplants
1/2 cup of diced of caciocavallo cheese (you could substitute with mozzarella or provolone)
3/4 cup of bread crumbs
1/2 cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano
One large egg
One tablespoon of parsley (add more to taste)
One teaspoon of minced garlic
16 ounces of tomato sauce
A pinch of salt
A sprinkle of black pepper

Instructions:

Fill a large pot of water and bring to a boil.
Remove the stem and excess parts of the upper half of the eggplant and discard.
Cut the eggplant piece in half vertically and make several shallow carvings into each piece. Carve a cross into the top part of the eggplant so that the eggplant comes apart when boiled, making it easy to stuff.

4. Place the eggplant in boiling water and cook until it becomes mushy and turns into a pulp. It should take approximately ten minutes.

5. Once the eggplant has cooked, separate the skins from the eggplant. Place the skin in a separate dish and drain out the pulp for five minutes using a colander.

6. Once the pulp has drained, combine the eggplant pulp with the cheese, bread crumbs, grated cheese, salt, pepper, garlic, and parsley in a large bowl and mix well. Note: If you feel like the filling is too dry, add another egg, and if you feel like it’s too wet, then you can add a little more breadcrumbs and grated cheese.

7. Preheat your oven to 350 F. While the oven is reaching temperature, prepare a large baking tray by spreading tomato sauce all along the base.

8. Begin stuffing the eggplant skins with the filling and place each stuffed eggplant into the baking tray. Once all the eggplants are stuffed and ready for baking, top them off with some more tomato sauce.

9.Cover the tray with aluminum foil and place it into the oven.

10. Bake for 30 minutes with the aluminum foil cover, then remove the foil and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes.

11. Once fully baked, sprinkle some grated Parmigiano Reggiano on top before serving