The Great Excuse: Stuffed Eggplant

Anything that is stuffed is a great excuse to use leftovers. well that's my kitchen mantra *lol*
after 'sun drying' my tomatoes i...ok i'll honest, i started to feel lazy again...(its like that with me nowadays, thats why this blog is lacking the attention it deserves) while rummaging my fridge i took out my chicken thighs and thawed it and then i find that i still have 1 eggplant left from my sandwich, an italian gourmet sausage, 2 strips of beef bacon a bit of sour cream and a lump of mozzarella cheese and my almost dried up parsley. and i thought perfect! now i'm in the mood for stuffing stuff hahaha...but eggplant seem to be my victim of choice. i never tried stuffing eggplant before, potatoes yes, tomatoes yes, fruits yes but never eggplant. and apparently according to my friend Celine, stuffed eggplant is common in france...so is this recipe is french? i don't know i just hentam (wing it)*lol*

the out come?

hmm...surprising tasty. so i think yo u can easily use leftover chicken meat or beef or what ever you have in the fridge but i think if you wanted to use sausage, use a gourmet sausage as it is more flavorful. my ingredients are without portion coz its left overs and i just use what i have and estimate a amount so that it'll fit into my eggplant skin nicely.

italian sausage (i use beef)
beef bacon
an eggplant cut in half and rub it with salt and let it sit for a while then rinse.
salt & pepper
1 chopped shallot
1 clove chopped garlic
chopped parsley spring onion
dries thyme
1 tsp sour cream
mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
olive oil

cut the skin off the italian sausage and squeeze the sausage out.
saute shallot and garlic with a bit of olive oil until fragrant then add in the sausage meat. continue cooking until you can see that the shallots and bits of sausage meat is caramelizing. add in herbs stir then remove from heat.

in another pan cook beef bacon with butter until crisp.

mean while brush cut eggplant with butter or olive oil and roast it in the oven until the flesh of eggplant is thoroughly cooked in a 180c preheated oven. this may take about 20-30minutes depending on the thickness of the flesh. brush the eggplant with oil frequently, this will help the eggplant cook faster.

when cooked let it rest fro 5 minutes then carefully scrape the flesh out using a spoon. this should be easy to do coz the flesh of the eggplant is soft and almost mushed. drain excess water from the flesh. then combine it with the sausage mixture. mix well and mesh any lumps from eggplant flesh. then add in the beef bacon and some grated mozzarella. save some for topping.

divide the fillings into 2 equal parts and start filling in the eggplant case. pack it tight. then sprinkle mozzarella and Parmesan on top. bake again for another 10 minutes or until cheese melted and crusted....

this can be your made to impress appetizer hahahah~ i'd say its gorgeous! in taste and presentation.

as for the thawed chicken...i made a roasted thigh chicken out of it with coarse mustard and some other stuff...i'll post the recipe in the next N3.

**hmmm just thinking....perhaps this dish will taste a lot better with ricotta cheese instead of mozzarella?