Stuffed Eggplant

Stuffed Eggplant is but one of many delightful variations of this delightful fruit. Eggplant has always been a summer staple. In the Italian realm, ciamabotta, fried eggplant and its elaboration, eggplant parmesan, centered many a dinner table from July to September. As I have mentioned on other pages of this site, our father, on his way to our summer home, stopped at every New Jersey farm stand along the way. Pecks of fresh vegetables lined our pantry hall. These cornucopias of summer wonders became everything from sweet jams to savory stews. Most the dishes were Italian style. But,curiously, in addition to Italian standards, my mother also made a few non-Italian dishes. Moussaka was, and still is, one of her best. The other favorite eggplant dish that she made was an eggplant with rice and shrimp stuffing.

When I researched this recipe I found it on my many sites from Portugal to China. Most of them very much agreed on the stuffing. Asian recipes seem add hot peppers. European versions tended to use some kind of cheese. One distinguishing difference worldwide was how to treat the eggplant base. Many Western sites suggested gutting the eggplant and boiling the meat. Asian sites tended to fry the meat. I also found some site that preferred to bake the eggplant. Baking seemed like a good idea to me. Fried eggplant takes on so much oil that you are asking for clogged arteries. On the other side, anything boiled negates taste. Baking seemed to be a good method. Baking holds flavors.
Online sites were not my only source of recipes. I went to my kitchen library. The more up-to –date books had little to offer. But one of my old-timers, Paul Prudhomme, proposed several possibilities. Prudhomme’s “Louisiana Kitchen” is still available on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Chef-Paul-Prudhommes-Louisiana-Kitchen/dp/0688028470/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343872464&sr=1-1&keywords=Paul+Prudhomme
Prudhomme slices the eggplant lengthwise and makes “pirogues,” little canoes. His stuffing is rich with numerous spices. He proposes boiling the meat and I didn’t want to go in that direction. Then too, Prudhomme uses the long dark purple traditional eggplants. I am using what are sometimes called Sicilian eggplants.

Sicilian eggplants are more globelike. Nonetheless, if you are looking for rich, densely flavored food, give this book a try. Yes, Prudhomme’s recipes can sometimes be complicated. They do not always read as easily as today’s cookbooks. But, Prudhomme’s ideas are extraordinary.

My next question was whether or not to peel the eggplant. Eggplant skin is very leathery. It does not chew or digest well. To peel the eggplant completely would render the outer shell completely useless. To leave the skin on would make the final dish somewhat problematic. So, I thought I would try peeling the eggplant at about one inch separations. In this way there would be enough skin to hold the fruit in place, but with enough free surface to make the eggplant edible.

Baking the eggplant takes at least an hour or more. You want the interior to be completely soft.When the eggplant comes out of the oven, there is another trick to deal with. Even after it is baked, eggplant seems to have a fibrous element that connects the stem and the base to the entire inside. Again, I am using round Sicilian eggplant. I am not sure there is the same problem with long dark purple eggplants. But if you’re using these nice round globes, to remove the eggplant pulp from its shell I find it helpful to cut off the cap and the base. Then I move the knife around the edge by the skin and push out the pulp. Cutting the bottom also makes a flat surface for setting up the eggplant to be stuffed.

Spicing the stuffed eggplant is a personal preference. The possibilities for adding spice are endless. In India eggplant can be spiced with more tastes and fragrances than you can imagine. The Chinese seem to like a bit of sugar or ginger. In Lebanon you may find pine nuts and lemon. To me, I think the recipe I propose with shrimp would do well with a diced chili pepper in the mix, but in my house, hot peppers do not go over well. In any event, play with the addition of spices according to your likes.

What you need

Equipment
Sauter pan or wok
Baking pan
Sharp knife

Ingredients

Eggplant - shown is a Sicilian eggplant
Rice - already cooked
Shrimp
Tomatoes, preferably Cento San Marzano
Onion - any kind, but I'm using a summer red
Garlic
Sweet peppers
Parmesan cheese, grated
Optional- cayenne pepper and/or Asian spices
Olive oil - not shown

Getting it together - the mise en place