Ricotta Stuffed Aubergine

Cook Time: ~25 mins

This hearty, yet light and deeply satisfying vegetarian recipe pairs a smokey tomato sauce with parcels of aubergine stuffed with lemon zest, ricotta, mozzarella, basil, and roasted peppers. A welcome undertone of heat from chilli flakes and a lashing of extra virgin olive oil and parmesan to finish.

• Serves: 4

• Prep: ~10 minutes

• Cook: ~15 minutes

Ingredients

Stuffed Aubergines

• 2x Augbergines

• 2x Red peppers

• Ricotta cheese (~250g)

• Mozzarella (~300g drained)

• Parmesan (for dressing)

• Basil (~15g)

• 1x Lemon

• 3x Garlic cloves

• Chilli flakes

• Extra virgin olive oil

• Salt & black pepper

Tomato Sauce

• Chopped tomatoes (~800g)

• Garlic cloves (8 to 12)

• Smoked paprika (1 tbsp)

• Dried oregano (1 tbsp)

• Chilli flakes

• Olive oil

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Notes

• N/A

Equipment

• Medium mixing bowl

• Deep oven dish

• Grill pan

Mise En Place

• Remove the stem of the pepper and slice around the core so you have 3 to 4 shell-shaped slices for each pepper. Place onto a tray and grill under high heat until the skin turns black. Remove and let them steam in a bag or container for 20 minutes.

• For the stuffing, empty all of the ricotta into a bowl alongside half of the mozzarella, shredded. Add freshly cracked black pepper, salt, the zest of one lemon, three finely grated garlic cloves and three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Mix and set aside.

• Grate a small bowl of parmesan (for serving) and tear up the remaining mozzarella.

• Slice the aubergine, lengthways, into ~1cm slices.

• Finely slice about 8 to 12 garlic cloves, for the sauce, depending on your love of garlic.

The Cook

Place your aubergine on a tray and season generously with black pepper, salt, and extra virgin olive oil. Heat up a grill pan, apply olive oil, and grill both sides of the aubergine until they have grill marks. Once done, lay the slices out to cool slightly.

Take your steamed roasted peppers and remove the black skin before slicing them into strips. To each aubergine, apply a dollop of ricotta, a couple of slices of pepper, and a few basil leaves to the base. Roll up the stuffed aubergine and set aside.

Scatter the sliced garlic cloves across a deep oven dish and add a liberal amount of olive oil. Preheat the oven to 200°C and cook the garlic for ~5 minutes or until golden. Remove the tray from the oven and add two cans of chopped tomatoes, one tablespoon of oregano and smoked paprika, chilli flakes, salt, and black pepper. Cook for ~5 minutes.

Once simmering, add the stuffed aubergines to the tray and top with the rest of the shredded mozzarella. Place the dish on the highest oven tray, and cook for ~10 minutes or until the cheese starts to brown.

To serve, add a shallow base of the tomato sauce to a bowl alongside three stuffed aubergines. Sprinkle over chilli flakes, grated parmesan, black pepper, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Finish with sliced basil.

If you attempt this dish, let me know how it goes, and if you variate the recipe in any way. This newsletter relies upon word of mouth, so if you know someone who would enjoy this recipe please share it.

Thanks for reading,

Conor