Stuffed Parmesan Eggplant

In this mouth-watering dish, eggplant serves as the carrier of tantalizing flavors. This healthy dish takes less time to cook and even lesser time to eat. This is the perfect healthy dish to cook for your family, and even though eggplant may have a poor reputation in the eyes of the food consumer, this is a dish that guaranteed to get a request to be made again.

Health Benefits

The main ingredient of this dish is the eggplant which has forever been known to be one of the most beneficial dishes for health. It is especially suitable for those who are striving to eat healthy and losing weight.

Ingredients

eggplants: 2

canola oil: 2 tbsp

sweet onion (chopped): 1

fresh thyme (chopped): 1 tbsp

garlic—minced: 1 tbsp

Kosher salt: 1 tbsp

small tomato (chopped): 1

large eggs, lightly beaten: 2

cupped basil (freshly chopped): 1/2

mozzarella cheese (shredded): 2 ounces

Italian seasoned panko: 3/4 cup

pasta (any kind): 1 1/2 cup

mozzarella cheese (fresh and torn to pieces): 2 ounces

ounces of Parmesan cheese (this would normally amount to ½ cup): 1 1/2

small basil leaves (fresh)

How To Make Stuffed Parmesan Eggplant

1. Before you start with the preparations preheat your oven to 350 Fahrenheit.
2. Meanwhile peel the eggplants into 1-inch strips lengthwise, using a peeler. Cut the eggplant pulp in a crosshatch pattern, make sure to not cut through the skin. Dip a brush, developed for baking purposes, in canola oil and then place it in a 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Bake the eggplant strips in the oven for 40 minutes.
3. Take out the eggplants and remove their pulp using a melon baller whilst leaving a ½ inch shell in place. Then roughly chop up the pulp and place that in a medium-sized bowl.
4. In a small skillet heat the remaining oil over medium-high heat. Add onions to the skillet as you cook and stir it occasionally till it becomes tender, this should take you 5 to 6 minutes. Add the thyme, garlic, and salt, to taste, to the skillet and cook for 1 minute, stir the mixture continuously.
5. To the eggplant pulp, add the onion mixture, chopped tomato, eggs, shredded mozzarella, and ½ cup of breadcrumbs. With a cooking spray coat a 13 by 9-inch baking dish and place the eggplant shells. Distribute the tomato mixture evenly amongst the eggplant shells. Top the dish with the pasta sauce and ¼ cup breadcrumbs. Sprinkle both the cheeses on top.
6. Bake the eggplants in the oven for 40 minutes, till you see the cheese melt and brown. Lastly, top the eggplants with basil leaves.

Trivia

Even though Kosher salt is said to have its name due to its Jewish heritage, but that is not why the salt was named like that at all. Kosher salt is really, koshering, salt and is suppose to remove blood from the meat. Some salt manufacturing companies would name their kosher salt boxes “coarse kosher salt” and thus the name stuck.