The stuffed eggplants (in Catalan, albergínies farcides) are a dish with a high emotive charge for me, it brings me lots of childhood memories. It was one of the favourite dishes that my grandma used to prepare. I can remember it perfectly... those eggplants, perfectly cooked with some fried potatoes and homemade tomato sauce... It has been a while since the last time I ate them (I think years!), and now I wanted to find out the perfect recipe. After some attempts (and some improvements), I can finally present my recipe for the stuffed eggplants.
Let's cook!
Divide the eggplants in two pieces. Mark with a knife the cube pattern you can see in the photo: this will help in removing the pulp of the eggplant.
Put the halves on a tray, with some olive oil and salt. Bake them 25 min, 170 ºC.
Let them cool a little and then use a spoon to empty them. Put the pulp aside, we will use it later.
Prepare a sauté of onions, garlic and tomatoes.
When the sauté is done, add the minced meat and add salt and pepper to it. Blend it until the meat is cooked.
Add the pulp of the eggplant to the meat and mix it.
Put now the flour and let it cook while mixing (don't burn it!). After some minutes, add the milk and the nutmeg. Mix it well.
Add the parsley and marjoram and remove from heat. Finally, add and incorporate two raw eggs.
When the mix is cold enough, stuff the eggplants.
Cover each stuffed eggplant with some egg and breadcrumbs.
Bake the eggplants for 40-50 minutes at 200 ºC... and let's eat!
Advice and tricks:
- A perfect way to complete the plate is to cook the eggplants with potatoes that have been fried previously. The taste is amazing! And if you serve it with some homemade tomato sauce... it is just perfect.
- You can freeze them without any problems. I advice you to freeze the eggplants when they are raw, just after they have been covered by breadcrumbs. Then you can cook them just putting them in the oven, even if they are still frozen.
Ingredients
Directions
Divide the eggplants in two pieces. Mark with a knife the cube pattern you can see in the photo: this will help in removing the pulp of the eggplant.
Put the halves on a tray, with some olive oil and salt. Bake them 25 min, 170 ºC.
Let them cool a little and then use a spoon to empty them. Put the pulp aside, we will use it later.
Prepare a sauté of onions, garlic and tomatoes.
When the sauté is done, add the minced meat and add salt and pepper to it. Blend it until the meat is cooked.
Add the pulp of the eggplant to the meat and mix it.
Put now the flour and let it cook while mixing (don't burn it!). After some minutes, add the milk and the nutmeg. Mix it well.
Add the parsley and marjoram and remove from heat. Finally, add and incorporate two raw eggs.
When the mix is cold enough, stuff the eggplants.
Cover each stuffed eggplant with some egg and breadcrumbs.
Bake the eggplants for 40-50 minutes at 200 ºC... and let's eat!