Stuffed Eggplant

When I bought a yellow bell pepper at the farmer's market, I had every intention of stuffing them with something. The day came and I prepped my ingredients. Eggplants, onion, basil, tomato. But as I did, my mind began to wander and I ended up slicing the bell pepper to bits. Great! (I say that with a touch of sarcasm) So I made the only other logical choice.

I stuffed the eggplant instead. So I scooped out the innards and roasted the "shell." Sauteed the innards with some onion, the chopped bell pepper, and tomato. Season with some dry oregano and fresh basil to give it a lovely distinct taste. Then stuffed the lovely mix together into the eggplant boats and topped it off with some bread crumbs and shredded cheese. Let that melt a few minutes longer and dinner was served. I managed to salvage my origianl intent of stuffing something. Haha...

Serves 2-4

Stuffed Eggplant

1 plump eggplant
1 yellow bell pepper - chopped
1 medium ripe tomato - seeded and chopped
1/2 medium onion - chopped
extra virgin olive oil
1 c fresh basil - roughly chopped
1 tsp dry oregano
1/2 c shredded cheese (your choice)
balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper


Preheat your oven to 450˚F

Cut the eggplant in half length-wise and scoop out 90% of the inside, leaving a nice boat shape. Coat the eggplant halves with olive oil and season with a little salt and pepper. Roast for about 20-25 minutes.

Roughly chopped the scooped flesh of the eggplant.

Saute the onions on a little olive oil until they are tender. Then add the bell pepper and eggplant. Saute those as well until tender and the eggplant has turned darker.

Add the tomatoes.

Season with a little salt and pepper and add the basil. Stir occasionally to combine.

When the eggplants are done roasting, let the cool for a couple of minutes.

Scoop the eggplant/bell pepper mixture into the boats and top with the breadcrumbs and shredded cheese.

Bakes for another 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted. Drizzle a little bit of balsamic vinegar on top.