Categories: BeefMain Dishes

Meat Stuffed Eggplants

Fun recipe to play with: eggplants stuffed with ground beef and vegetables. Nice combination of meat and veggies. I love eggplants!

For me it is always a bit tricky to hollow eggplants out, it is important to take most of pulp off to make sure they cook through, but it is also important to to not damage eggplant skin. It takes a bit of time and practice.

You can take bigger eggplants and slice them in half lengthwise, or take smaller ones and slice top part off like I did for this recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 3 medium size eggplants
  • 1lb of ground beef
  • 3 roma tomatoes
  • 1/2 red bell pepper
  • 1 onion
  • Small bunch of fresh parsley
  • Ground black pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup of shredded cheese
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • Paprika to taste
  • Salt to taste
  • 1/2 cup of water
  • Oil

How to prepare, step-by-step:

  1. Prepare ingredients:
    Meat Stuffed Eggplants Recipe: Step 1
  2. Start off by hollowing eggplants: you can either slice each in half lengthwise (if they are big enough) and stuff each half, or slice a top part off like I did and carefully extract pulp using a knife and a spoon, make sure no not damage eggplant skin, you also don’t want to leave too much pulp on the skin, or it may not cook through evenly; safe the pulp:
    Slice top part off
    Cut around with a knife
    Slice across couple of times

    Use spoon to scoop pulp out
    Follow the eggplant
    Repeat with all eggplants

  3. Salt hollowed eggplants inside generously with salt, do the same with eggplant pulp, set both aside for 15 mins or more to produce juice:
    Meat Stuffed Eggplants Recipe: Step 3a
    Meat Stuffed Eggplants Recipe: Step 3b
  4. Meanwhile blanche (remove skin from) tomatoes:
    Meat Stuffed Eggplants Recipe: Step 4
  5. Warm up oven to 350F. Rinse eggplants of salt, arrange them in a baking pan and put pan to the oven for 20-25 mins (or until eggplant part which is close to the stem gets soft if pierced with a knife).
    While eggplants are cooking, peel and chop onion, warm big skillet with a bit of oil up, add onions and fry them over moderate heat until colored, stir from time to time:
    Meat Stuffed Eggplants Recipe: Step 5
  6. Chop tomatoes, and once onions are ready, add them to the skillet; cook onions and tomatoes together over light simmer for about 5 mins; stir from time to time:
    Meat Stuffed Eggplants Recipe: Step 6
  7. Add chopped bell pepper:
    Meat Stuffed Eggplants Recipe: Step 7
  8. Rinse eggplant pulp of salt; squeeze extra liquid out and chop the pulp; add chopped pulp to the skillet; continue cooking vegetables together; don’t forget to stir (10 mins or so until eggplant is soft):
    Meat Stuffed Eggplants Recipe: Step 8
  9. Hopefully eggplants shells are ready by now (eggplant part which is close to the stem is soft when probed with a knife), take pan out the oven:
    Meat Stuffed Eggplants Recipe: Step 9
  10. Move eggplant shells to a plate to cool down a bit; and move half of vegetable mixture from the skillet to the baking pan:
    Meat Stuffed Eggplants Recipe: Step 10
  11. Increase heat under the skillet with remaining vegetables and add ground beef to them; using spatula break meat in pieces and fry them until not red anymore, stir with vegetables after that:
    Meat Stuffed Eggplants Recipe: Step 11
  12. Season with salt, ground black pepper and paprika to taste:
    Meat Stuffed Eggplants Recipe: Step 12
  13. Press garlic cloves in, mix:
    Meat Stuffed Eggplants Recipe: Step 13
  14. Cook for a minute, then add chopped parsley, mix and turn heat off:
    Meat Stuffed Eggplants Recipe: Step 14
  15. Using a spoon, stuff cooked eggplant shells with meat and vegetable mixture, arrange them in the baking pan over vegetables:
    Meat Stuffed Eggplants Recipe: Step 15
  16. Cover each eggplant with a layer of cheese:
    Meat Stuffed Eggplants Recipe: Step 16
  17. Pour half glass of water to the pan and put pan back to the oven (350F) for 20 mins:
    Meat Stuffed Eggplants Recipe: Step 17
  18. Remove cooked stuffed eggplants from the oven:
    Meat Stuffed Eggplants Recipe: Step 18
  19. Serve them hot with or without vegetables they were cooking with:
    Meat Stuffed Eggplants Recipe: Step 19
Enjoy!