Stuffed Eggplant

This delicious recipe comes from my dear grandma, an Italian immigrant who came to this country when she was just 12 years old. Though she is no longer with us, she continues to be an inspiration for me. She was an amazing cook and I have no doubt that if she put out a cookbook today, it would be a best seller!  

While she was an amazing cook, she probably wouldn’t write a cookbook because she literally never wrote down a single recipe. She cooked from memory and from her gut. My mom told me that she would chase my grandma around the kitchen, trying to write down what she was doing.

“How much salt was that??” my mom would ask.

“I don’t know, a dash!” my grandma would respond.

So in a way, all this amazing cooking was sort of lost

Because of her from-the-gut cooking, this stuffed eggplant recipe is loosely based on how she made it. But you’ll love it just the same. Lots of spicy sausage stuffed into tender eggplant, smothered with her homemade sauce, it’s a savory and filling meal that everyone will love! Even if you don’t think you’re an eggplant fan, you will like this.

How to Make Stuffed Eggplant

Here is a brief overview of how this stuffed eggplant recipe comes together. For the full recipe including all measurements, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

• Par boil the eggplant shells and its pulp. Read more on the process of cutting, boiling, and shocking eggplant below. Dice the cooked eggplant pulp to be added to the filling.
• Make the filling. Combine the uncooked sausage, breadcrumbs, eggs, eggplant pulp, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Mix together using clean hands.
• Stuff the eggplant. Fill the eggplant shells with the filling mixture, place them into the prepared baking dish, and bake for 30 minutes.
• Make the sauce. Combine all ingredients for the sauce in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Mash the tomatoes and let the sauce simmer while the eggplant is in the oven.
• Add the sauce and continue baking. Top the eggplant with the tomato sauce, and put it all back in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand for five minutes. Garnish with freshly minced parsley and enjoy.

Par Boiling Eggplants For Stuffed Eggplant

We start by par boiling the eggplant, which ensures both the eggplant and filling are fully cooked by the end of the baking time. Immediately transferring the eggplant shells and pulp to an ice bath, also known as “shocking,” stops the cooking process. This results in a perfectly tender eggplant that’s easy to handle and holds its shape when filled with the stuffing.

• Cut the eggplant in half the long way so you have two eggplant halves. Remove the pulp using a spoon. (You can see a picture of this above.)
• Boil the eggplant. Add the pulp followed by the eggplant into your pot of boiling water and boil for five minutes. 
• Transfer to an ice bath. Gently transfer the eggplant to a bowl filled with ice and let sit for five minutes. This preserves the eggplant’s texture and color, preventing it from overcooking, especially since it will also be baked in the oven later.
• Drain and dice. Drain well in a colander. Gently squeeze the eggplant pulp to remove excess water, then dice it.