Meat Stuffed Eggplants

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:

   

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:
   

   

   

   

   
   

   

   

   

   
   
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:

   

   

4. Meanwhile blanche (remove skin from) tomatoes:

   

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:

   

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:

   

7. Add chopped bell pepper:

   

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):

   

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:

   

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:

    

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:

    

12. Season with salt, ground black pepper and paprika to taste:

    

13. Press garlic cloves in, mix:

    

14. Cook for a minute, then add chopped parsley, mix and turn heat off:

    

15. Using a spoon, stuff cooked eggplant shells with meat and vegetable mixture, arrange them in the baking pan over vegetables:

    

16. Cover each eggplant with a layer of cheese:

    

17. Pour half glass of water to the pan and put pan back to the oven (350F) for 20 mins:

    

18. Remove cooked stuffed eggplants from the oven:

    

19. Serve them hot with or without vegetables they were cooking with: