Stuffed aubergines/eggplants

Since I was a kid, I have loved aubergines (or eggplants). The color, the shine, and the thin fried slices my mother did instead of chips some days. Stuffed aubergines were, and still are, one of my favorite dishes.

Now, despite having the family recipe, I did not get them quite right, but I have managed to create a new version: it is not like the original I was trying to replicate, but I love it too (Partner doesn't, and I am afraid he'll ban it from menu planning soon, pity). They can also be frozen before cooking, so you just have to pop them in the oven for a quick meal!

To feed two people, you need:

• 2 medium aubergines
• 1 small onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 egg
• Red and green pepper (maybe a quarter of pepper of each? I just cut until it looks roughly as much as the onion)
• Tomato sauce
• 250gr grounded meat (pork, beef or mixed. Or whatever tickles your fancy, really)
• Breadcrumbs
• Olive oil, salt or beef bouillon, grounded pepper, nutmeg.

(You can adjust quantities depending on your appetite or the size of the aubergines. Keep in mind that they shrink when cooked. If you end up with smaller / less aubergine than you expected, you can bake a potato, hollow it out and use it too.)

So, the recipe, step by step:

1. Wash the aubergines, cut the top off and cut them in half lengthwise. Hollow them out leaving a half inch wide wall on every side (where you cut the top too. Do not be like me and forget.) and reserve the "stuffing".
2. Put them on the microwave, covered (with a microwave lid or saran wrap), for 8 minutes on high. You could also bake them or boil them, but I never have.
3. While they cook, finely chop garlic, the onion and the peppers (or, even better, use a mincer).
4. Put a tablespoon of oil and the garlic in a pan and heat it up. Then, add the onion and sauté until it softens.
5. Add the peppers and cook until they soften, too.
6. Add the meat. Stir frequently.
7. While the meat is cooking, cut the aubergine you reserved into small dices (or use the mincer again). Add it to the pan when the meat is almost done.
8. Season with the black pepper, nutmeg and salt (or a bit of beef bouillon powder instead of the salt) and stir.
9. When it looks like it's done, add two tablespoon of tomato sauce (enough to create a paste, but not too much) and an egg-yolk, and mix well.
10. Stuff the aubergines with the paste. Put a teaspoon of tomato sauce on top of each and spread. Sprinkle breadcrumbs to cover.
11. Put in the oven, preheated to 220ºC, for five minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the eggwhite until you get soft peaks.
12. Put whipped egg on top of aubergines, bake until golden. Serve with tomato sauce.

(here I underestimated how much the aubergines would shrink so I had to do the potato too. It was a bit dryier so if you do, add more tomato sauce to it so moisten it a bit)

I hope that, if you try it, you enjoy them as much as I do!

Oath's Mom