ITALY
Melanzane Ripiene (stuffed eggplant)
45 min
4 servings
Medium
After returning from a wonderful girls trip together in Italy, we couldn't say goodbye to the fantastic Italian food. Fortunately, Enrico, who also gave us the recipe for authentic Italian bruschetta, could give us a recipe for Melanzane Ripiene (Italian for stuffed aubergine).
This is originally from Cilento, a region in the south of Italy. In this recipe, the eggplant is not completely filled, but you cut the eggplant into thick slices, which are filled piece by piece with a special goat cheese filling. The goat cheese used in the original recipe is 'Cilento dry goat cheese', but it is a bit difficult to find in the Dutch supermarket. We have therefore used a more common hard goat cheese. Also very tasty, but we are already looking forward to our next trip to Italy where we can buy the original, authentic cheese.
Tip: use good extra virgin olive oil when making the recipe. We highly recommend the award-winning olive oil from Enrico: Alberta Iannicelli, now also available on Amazon.
Preparation method
Step 1: Make the tomato sauce.
Cut the tomatoes into small pieces.
Heat a dash of olive oil over low heat in a stockpot and add the tomato pieces.
Let the tomatoes simmer for a while until the mixture is soft and a tomato sauce is formed.
Step 2: Prepare the filling
Grate the goat cheese and finely chop the garlic.
Mix the goat cheese and garlic together with the eggs and some salt and pepper to taste with a fork.
Step 3: Fill the eggplant
Cut the aubergines into slices of about 2 centimeters.
Then make a deep cut in each slice along the length, but not all the way through, so that you can fill it.
Fill the aubergine slices with the goat cheese filling. See video instructions here.
Step 4: Bake the aubergines
Heat a thick layer of olive oil in a high pan.
Fry the stuffed aubergines briefly until they are light brown and drain on kitchen paper.
Step 5: Mix the aubergines with the sauce
Blend the tomato sauce in a food processor or hand blender. Our tomatoes had already disintegrated so much that this was no longer necessary.
In another pan, sauté the red onion in olive oil.
Add the sauce and let it simmer for another 10 minutes.
Place the aubergines in the sauce and turn them a few times with a wooden spoon
Step 6: Serve the Melanzane Ripiene
Put everything on a plate and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil, fresh basil and some fresh pepper.
Buon appetito! ('Enjoy your meal')
The quality of the ingredients is of great importance in this recipe and other Italian recipes. Want to know more about this? Enrico tells you all about it.
Ingredients
3 fresh aubergines
2 eggs
120 grams of 'Cilento dry goat's cheese' or a hard goat's cheese
2 cloves of garlic
1 red onion
1 kilo fresh ripe tomatoes
A handful of fresh basil
Extra virgin olive oil
Olive oil for frying
Salt and pepper to taste
Alvast in de stemming komen?
Klik hier voor een muzieksuggestie!