Stuffed Eggplant

The CSA has been doling out tons of eggplants the past couple weeks. I love eggplant, so I'm not really complaining, but it is a bit challenging coming up with some fresh ways of cooking them. This week's success story: stuffed eggplants. It's a pretty basic meat stuffing. I used grass-fed ground beef this time, but ground lamb would be excellent. The eggplants are stuffed and roasted for about 50 minutes or so, and the final result is so delicious. Even though it's made with very basic ingredients, it's surprisingly rich and flavorful.

Uncooked and not half eaten...

HOW TO:
Start by sautéing chopped onion, garlic, and half a cubanelle pepper until soft. Throw in the ground beef, season, and brown. Add several chopped tomatoes. (Since it's tomato season, I used local plum tomatoes. In the winter, canned or jarred would probably be better.) Toss in some chopped parsley and basil, and cook until tomatoes have broken down. Meanwhile, cut the eggplants in half. Slice out some of the flesh from the centers. Salt and pepper them right before stuffing. Top each eggplant with the meat mixture, and garnish with slices of the other half of the cubanelle. Cover with foil and roast for 30 minutes at 375º. Remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes at 425º. Serve with rice, polenta, couscous, or something similar.

Penne with Eggplant, Sausage, and Kale

My solution for a "quick" Monday meal. It's pretty close to a one pot dish. I guess it's technically two if you count the one needed to cook the pasta. It's vegetable heavy with two large eggplants and a whole bunch of kale. The spicy Italian sausage rounds it all out. The pasta makes for great leftovers, particularly when baked with mozzarella and topped with breadcrumbs and parmesan. Actually, now that I think about it, it's probably better the second time around. 

HOW TO:

Sauté garlic and onion with olive oil in a large pot. When lightly caramelized, throw in the sausage and cook through. Add the diced eggplant, stir to coat, and cook until they are just beginning to soften. Add crushed tomatoes and simmer until fragrant. Finally, throw in the chopped kale around the same time that the pasta starts cooking. When the pasta is just al dente, stir the pasta into the sauce, adding some pasta water if necessary. Cook another 3 or 5 minutes and serve with parmesan.