Every region in Italy has developed its own variant. Many regions of Italy are trying to make the traditional character of this dish : Sicily ( Catania eggplant ), Calabria ( melangiani bend ) and Liguria boasts the best stuffed eggplant in the nation.
I would like to a boast about the casalese version. (buligname aripiene - dialect casalese). The difference is in the preparation and method of cooking. For starters, we do not cut the eggplant lengthwise but skillfully carve them.
Ingredients for Stuffing
1 lb. sausage meat
1/2 red onion (chopped)
3 tablespoons olive oil
Eggplant interior flesh
1 cup of day-old bread
1 egg
1 chopped tomato
1/2 cup parmigiano cheese
Sprig of parsley
Salt and black pepper
Directions:
Carve the raw eggplants with a paring knife carefully removing the interior flesh so as not to break or puncture the small eggplants.
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| Way to carve eggplants with knife |
Place the carved eggplants and interior flesh in water.
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| Carved eggplants in water |
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| Interior eggplant flesh in water |
Drain the interior eggplant flesh and squeeze.
Place olive oil in pan and add chopped onion. Cook until golden.
Add sausage meat and cook over medium heat for about half an hour, stirring often.
Add drained and squeezed eggplant flesh, tomato, parsley, salt and pepper and continue to cook for another half hour.
Close the heat.
Add day-old bread, cheese and egg and mix. Let the stuffing cool off.
Drain the carved eggplants.
Stuff eggplants.
Add 1/2 cup olive oil in pan and simmer gently. Turn over each eggplant every few minutes so that they cook all around.
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| Stuffed eggplants after sauteing - |
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| Tomato sauce Once the sauce cooked for 10 -15 minutes, add the eggplants. Cook for 30 or 40 minutes. Ready to eat. |
Found your site today, BUT, cannot figure the finale to the stuffed eggplant (which looks gorgeous.) Can you elaborate? I would like to cook it on Friday. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping and commenting.
ReplyDeleteMake a simple marinara sauce (1/4 cup olive oil, 1 garlic clove, 4 or 5 fresh tomatoes or 1 large canned tomatoe, fresh parsley and basil, salt and black pepper - simmer for 15 minutes). Add stuffed sauteed eggplants and continue to simmer for 1/2 hour or so.
Thanks! I had faith, so I bought eggplants this afternoon. I bought big ones though because I think I will not enjoy working with the small ones I saw at the grocer's. I plan to slice them in half-well, maybe. I'll see how it goes.
ReplyDeleteHi Elisa. Party rescheduled, making this th 29th. But one more quick question: do you eat the eggplant skins?
ReplyDeleteAlso making the cornbread pizza.
Thank you.
Barbara
Of course, you eat the eggplant skins. On the other hand, my son does not like the taste of the skins. So he eats just the stuffing.
ReplyDeleteHi. I made this dish last week and it was great although a bit labor intensive. Still, it was received well, and my husband (a huge fan of eggplant) ate the leftovers last night. Many thanks for the recipe.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is labor intensive. Glad you enjoyed the recipe.
ReplyDeleteJust recently became a big eggplant fan. How much sausage, bread, eggs - etc. do you use in the stuffing?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - I honestly do not know exactly. Start with 1lb. of sausage meat, 2 cups of shredded bread or bread crumbs, 1 cup of cheese and 2 to 3 eggs. Consistency of filling should be moist. If too much filling, stuff some peppers.
ReplyDelete