Stuffed Italian Style Eggplant Boats

This evening I wanted to use the mini eggplants and ground beef I had in the fridge.  I decided to make Stuffed Italian Style Eggplant Boats. Costco carries beautiful small Italian type eggplant in packages of 4 or 5.  Over the weekend, I picked up a package to prepare this week. If you can't find the smaller eggplant, you could also use larger eggplantt; you would just need to increase the roasting time to make then tender enough to scoop out the flesh. I filled the cooked, hollowed eggplants with a mixture of browned ground beef, onions, garlic, a little spaghetti sauce, Parmesan and fresh mozzarella cheese and then topped them with a ricotta-Parmesan mixture before baking. I served the stuffed eggplants in a little pool of sauce. They turned out delicious. I snapped a few photos below as well as the recipe. Enjoy!

BOOM!

Stuffed and ready for the Ricotta-Parmesan topping...

The topping has been added & sprinkled with Parmigiano Reggiano....ready for the oven

Fresh out of the oven...BOOM!

Stuffed Italian Style Eggplant Boats

INGREDIENTS:

4 small Italian style eggplants (halved lengthwise)

Olive oil (as needed)

1 lb lean ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup spaghetti sauce (homemade or jarred)

Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup diced fresh mozzarella cheese

Ricotta-Parmesan Topping:

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 egg

1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
Shredded Parmigiano Reggiano (or Parmesan) to sprinkle on top, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Lightly brush bottom of a 9" x 13” baking dish or similar sized casserole dish with olive oil and set aside. Place halved eggplants on a baking sheet, cut side up; brush cut side with olive oil and season with salt to taste. Bake for 20 minutes or until flesh is fork tender. (It's imperative to cook the eggplant until fork tender; it's not a vegetable that is pleasant under cooked -- unless you like chewing on erasers.) Let cool for a few minutes until cool enough to handle.  Using a spoon, scoop out eggplant flesh, leaving a very thin wall of flesh against the eggplant's skin so they maintain their shape and can be stuffed. Chop the eggplant flesh and set aside (it will be added to the cooked meat mixture later).

In a large skillet, brown beef; add onions and cook stirring until the beef is no longer pink and the onions are soft and translucent; add garlic and cook a few minutes more.  Add spaghetti sauce, salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer uncovered about 10 minutes (you don’t want much sauce or liquid in the meat mixture).  When liquid is almost gone, remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese; cool for about 10 minutes while you prepare the Ricotta-Parmesan topping.  

In a medium bowl, whisk ricotta, egg, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese together until smooth and well blended; add salt and pepper to taste (the Parmesan cheese is salty, so be careful not to over salt).  

Stir the mozzarella cheese and the chopped cooked eggplant flesh into the meat mixture. Using a spoon, divide the filling evenly between the eggplant shells and fill until slightly mounded.  Place filled shells in prepared baking dish.  Spoon Ricotta-Parmesan topping on top of each filled eggplant half, spreading to cover the meat filling. Lightly sprinkle additional Parmesan cheese on top of each, if desired.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes.  If desired, run under the broiler for a few minutes to lightly brown the tops.  Let sit about 10 minutes or so to set.  If desired, serve with additional spaghetti sauce. Serves approximately 4.