Meatless stuffed eggplants (Melanzane ripiene vegetariane) |
Stuffed
eggplants are one of our favorite dishes. The
filling can be modified in many
ways: more spicy (adding a peperoncino), tastier (adding more cheese at the end of cooking), while the meat may be beef, pork, veal only, or a mix of
veal and pork. The choice is yours!
See Stuffed eggplants alla casalese.
Choosing eggplants is a ritual: look for even color and firm feel. The eggplant should be heavy relative to its size; when you pick it up at the market, it should be firm and crisp, not spongy, to the touch.
In this case, I recommend you do not buy too big to shorten cooking time.
6 small to medium eggplants
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 red or green bell pepper, finely chopped
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups cubes of day-old country bread
1 cup water
1 cup grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 can pitted ripe olives, chopped
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Directions
Preheat oven to 400
degrees F.
Pour
the water over the bread cubes in a small bowl. Once the bread has softened,
squeeze out the excess water. Crumble and set aside.
Cut one end of the eggplants. Wash and halve the eggplants lengthwise. With
a small paring knife, score the flesh and cut the eggplant
around, leaving a 1/4-inch border from the skin. Scoop out the flesh
with a spoon, leaving eggplant shells or boats for baking.
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