Sicilian Stuffed Eggplants

A blog I wrote late last year but posting today:

Eggplant is one of those underappreciated veggies with notable health benefits and taste to suit, if prepared properly.They provide a great blend of texture and flavor. I love them barbecued over the low fire on my charcoal grill. Peeled and sliced they are sprinkled with sea salt and left for an hour to lose excess water, which will make them less spongy. Quick rinse with cold water and they are ready for barbecue. Depending on the fire it takes only about 5 minutes on each side. Mixed with a little olive oil, parsley and garlic they become a perfect side for barbecued meats.

Well it is still cold, snow cover is thick and my barbecue is buried in the shed. Somewhere deep behind all the patio furniture, hiding and waiting for warm spring days.

Sicilian Stuffed Eggplants is a great traditional vegetarian dish and is baked in the oven, no need to wait for spring. It is filled or should I say stuffed with Mediterranean flavors and textures; fennel, orange zest, pine nuts, parmigiano reggiano, anchovies and the last but not the least, a good quality olive oil. The dish has a great scent of summer accompanied by a piquant tomato sauce.

Recipe for the tomato sauce can be found in my previous blog post. The only change to that sauce recipe is addition of 1 tsp of fennel seeds that is added in step together with tomatoes.

We had it for dinner for two nights in a row and I even liked it better on the second day. I like that nose biting scent of tomato sauce contrasted with sweetness of caramelized fennel bulb and onion and added crunchiness of pine nuts. It goes great with a glass of good quality red wine.

The recipe has been adapted from chef Greg Easter and his book and channel “Cooking in Russia”.

Print Recipe

Sicilian Stuffed Eggplants

Delightfully flavorful eggplant!

Course

Main Dish

Cuisine

Italian, Mediterranean

Keyword

eggplant, Sicilian Stuffed Eggplants, stuffed eggplant

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

1.5 hours

Servings

servings

Ingredients

• 2 eggplant medium size
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil + some for brushing and finish
• 60 g fennel bulb sliced thin
• 1 tsp sea salt + some coarse sea salt for eggplant baking
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• 200 g onion chopped, medium fine
• 1 red chili pepper seeded and diced
• 2 tbsp pine nuts
• 15 g garlic cloves coarsely chopped
• 20 g golden raisins
• 60 ml white wine dry
• 2 anchovy filets soaked in milk
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 4 basil leaves cut in thin strips
• 15-20 g grated Parmesan
• 1 tbsp dried bread crumbs
• 1 egg yolk
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• tomato sauce previously prepared
• red chili flakes to taste

Course Main Dish Cuisine Italian, Mediterranean Keyword eggplant, Sicilian Stuffed Eggplants, stuffed eggplant Prep Time 30 minutes Cook Time 1.5 hours Servings servings Ingredients 2 eggplant medium size 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil + some for brushing and finish 60 g fennel bulb sliced thin 1 tsp sea salt + some coarse sea salt for eggplant baking 1 tsp granulated sugar 200 g onion chopped, medium fine 1 red chili pepper seeded and diced 2 tbsp pine nuts 15 g garlic cloves coarsely chopped 20 g golden raisins 60 ml white wine dry 2 anchovy filets soaked in milk 1 tsp orange zest 4 basil leaves cut in thin strips 15-20 g grated Parmesan 1 tbsp dried bread crumbs 1 egg yolk freshly ground pepper to taste tomato sauce previously prepared red chili flakes to taste

Instructions

Baking Eggplants

1. Wash and dry out eggplants, halve the eggplants lengthwise.
2. Sprinkle coarse sea salt over parchment paper lined baking pan. Brush each cut eggplant surface with olive oil and put them flat face down on a parchment paper.
3. Bake in prewarmed conventional oven at 190 ºC (375 ºF) for 30 minutes.
4. Take out of oven and let cool completely.

Stuffing Preparation

1. Over medium heat (5 out of 10) heat up medium size skillet and add olive oil.
2. Add in cut fennel slices, sprinkle with salt and sugar. Stir to make sure fennel pieces are fully coated. Slowly brown fennel with occasional stir.
3. Once fennel pieces start browning on their ends cover them wit a bed of cut onions, do not stir. Add diced chili pepper. Do not stir for the next 3 minutes of cooking. Added bed of onions will cool off fennel and prevent it from burning.
4. Stirring occasionally caramelize onions over the next 10-15 minutes.
5. Stir in anchovy fillets cut in small pieces, garlic and pine nuts.
6. Add white wine and raisins, stir and cook until there is no moisture left in the skillet.
7. Take skillet of the heat, stir in orange zest and basil, set aside to cool off.
8. Using a spoon scrape eggplant pulp being careful not to go too deep and make a hole on the shell. Leave about 5 mm (1/4") thickens to the outer edge. Scrape the eggplant starting from the stem end .
9. Puree eggplant pulp in a food processor.
10. In a medium size mixing bowl add: pureed eggplant, fennel/onion mixture, Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, egg yolk, ground pepper. Mix well together until unified.

Assembly

1. Fill each eggplant shell with prepared stuffing.

   
2. Coat the bottom of non reactive material baking pan with tomato sauce. Place each eggplant on top of the sauce. Spoon additional tomato sauce over the top of each eggplant, coating it completely.

   
3. Bake at 190 ºC (375 ºF) for 25-30 minutes in conventional oven. They are done when the sauce start browning along the edges.

   
4. Let eggplants cool off for about 15 minutes. Serve with additional grated Parmesan cheese, drizzled over with good quality olive oil and sprinkled with red chili flakes.

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