Mediterranean Baked Stuffed Eggplant Recipe

When you think of eggplant, a few dishes may pop into your head — eggplant parmesan, baba ganoush, and ratatouille. While those are certainly all fabulous eggplant creations, have you ever thought about stuffing an eggplant? Wellness coach and recipe developer Miriam Hahn brings us this recipe for Mediterranean baked stuffed eggplant and says, "I love working with as many different types of produce items as possible and try to go outside the box when creating entrees that are veggie based. This dish uses all of the best Mediterranean flavors, and because it includes a combination of protein, fat, and fiber, it's a complete meal on its own. I have also used it as a holiday side dish in place of potatoes for something different and more colorful." We think it pairs well with an easy spinach soup and some French bread. Read on to learn how to make eggplant in a new way!

To make this recipe, we'll need quite a few items from the produce department. Pick up 2 medium eggplants, a red onion, garlic, Italian parsley, a lemon, grape tomatoes, and fresh basil. Then from the dry goods sections, we'll need olive oil, quinoa, sun-dried tomatoes, tahini, kalamata olives, roasted red peppers, and capers. 

For spices, we'll use salt, oregano, and za'atar. Hahn says, "The flavors in za'atar are fabulous in this recipe, but if you have trouble finding it, add in a teaspoon of thyme and a teaspoon of marjoram." Or, of course, you can make your own za'atar blend.

Preheat your oven to 375 F. We'll need to cut our eggplant in half lengthwise, cutting right through the stem. To scoop out the flesh, take a paring knife and carve around the perimeter of the eggplant leaving about ¼-inch of flesh attached. Then, make a cross on the flesh of the eggplant to make it easier to scoop sections out of the eggplant shell. 

"We're going to be dicing the eggplant, so do your best to scoop out large chunks that can be diced," Hahn shares. Set the inside flesh aside and brush 1 teaspoon oil on the inside of the eggplant halves and shake on ½ teaspoon salt. Bake them in the oven, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

Pull out a cutting board and dice up the reserved eggplant, the red onion, and the garlic cloves. We'll be using 2 tablespoons of the red onion and 1 diced garlic clove to make the topping, so set those aside. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a large frying pan and bring the heat to medium. Drop in the onion and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes, then add the diced eggplant and stir for about 5 minutes. 

Now we can add the rest of our filling — the quinoa, sun-dried tomatoes, ¼ cup parsley, tahini, ½ teaspoon salt, and oregano. Saute this mixture for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. When it's done, the mixture can be distributed among the 4 eggplant halves. Place the filled halves in the still-warm oven until the topping is prepared. 

The best part of this dish is the topping. We're going to use fresh ingredients to create a type of Mediterranean salad that will go on top of our quinoa and eggplant filling. Take out a medium bowl and combine the reserved garlic and onion, along with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil, the lemon juice, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ cup parsley, the grape tomatoes, olives, roasted red peppers, basil, capers, and za'atar. When it's ready, scoop some of this mixture on top of the eggplant halves and serve. Top with more basil, if desired. You'll love this new way to cook eggplant and you'll definitely get some "oohs" and "ahhs" when you serve these beauties!