I make stuffed aubergines from time to time, but I haven’t shared the recipe for them until now. This time I’ve made stuffed aubergines with oriental spices, served on a bed of basmati rice. Recently I’ve read a recipe and it changed the way I’m making the aubergines.

The aubergines are twice baked. It sounds a bit more complicated than it is to make though. The dish is vegan, as you might expect. Besides the aubergines, the other main ingredient are chopped tomatoes, and that means a serving counts for 2 of the 5 a day, how amazing is that. You might not find pepper paste in the supermarkets. This is something I buy from the ethnic shops. It can be changed with tomato paste, it is similar in texture anyway.
I’ve used an oil spray. If you don’t have one, you can brush the aubergines with oil instead.

Ingredients for 2 servings of Stuffed Aubergines:

– 1 large aubergine
– 1/2 can chopped tomatoes
– 1 heaped teaspoon of pepper paste (see my comments above)
– salt, pepper
– oil (spray)
– turmeric
– dried coriander leaves
– garlic powder
– cardamom
– dried parsley

Start by heating the oven at 200C or 180C for convection ovens. Wash and cut the aubergine in half, lengthwise. Put the aubergines in a non-stick pan and sprinkle salt and pepper on top. Spray a bit of oil on top on the aubergines and put them in the oven to bake. Let them bake for 30 minutes.

After these 30 minutes, take the aubergines out of the oven. Using a spoon, scoop the flesh. The aubergines will be soft, so this will be very easy to do. Cut the aubergine flesh and put it in a bowl. Add the chopped tomatoes and the spices, according to your taste. You can have a taste and add a bit more spices if you think is necessary. Using a spoon, fill the aubergines with the mix.

Put the aubergines back in the oven. Leave the stuffed aubergines to bake for another 10 minutes.

As I mentioned, this time we’ve had our stuffed aubergines with basmati rice. I just boiled the rice and added a bit of salt and pepper, and a couple of spoons of oil. The rice takes about 20 minutes to make and, like the aubergines, it doesn’t involve a lot of work, just stirring a couple of times.

Do you like stuffed aubergines?