This is sooooo goood! - and much easier than making eggplant parmesan!!! I did not add the bread crumbs to the mixture. I added a chopped red pepper and a drained can of seasoned chopped tomatoes. I took the advice of others - and microwaved the eggplant shells for about 8 minutes, then stuffed it, poured some marinara sauce on top, baked it for about 1/2 hour, then sprinkled some mozzerella cheese on top, and put it back in the oven for a minute - until the cheese was all melted (and not hard and crusty!). SPECTACULAR!!!!!!!!!
My five-year-old told me this was the most delicious supper I made this month. I skipped the "stuffing" part and just put this in a casserole dish. I added hot sausage, mushrooms, lots more oregano, some Italian seasoning, lots more parsley, and oatmeal instead of breadcrumbs (wheat allergies). I covered with spaghetti sauce and parmesan cheese. So good! Thank you for a great idea!
My husband and I loved this. A few changes. We added yellow and orange pepper and some mushrooms to the recipe and much less breadcrumbs (didn’t want it too mushy). Also used spaghetti sauce in lieu of tomato sauce and upped the cheese with Monterey Jack and Cheddar. Great base recipe though and we will definitely be having this again. Very hearty.
I can't really fault the flavors here - very tasty! - but I'm not so sure about the presentation. I think I'm with the reviewer who suggested using this method as a casserole instead; my eggplant "shells" were only edible on the bottom even though I covered it with foil. Maybe I should have used more sauce but next time I think I'll just chop the entire eggplant and follow the recipe from there without stuffing - less waste that way. Still a great idea!
This is one of my favorite recipes. I love eggplant and was looking for something easier to make than eggplant parmesan. I didn't think my 2-year-old would like it but he called it "pizza" and ate it up. Even DH liked he's not a big fan of eggplant. The only thing I changed was cooking it with foil wrapped around the baking dish. This made the eggplant more tender and easier to eat. Thanks for the tasty easy-to-prepare recipe!
I left out the bread crumbs made homemade tomato sauce beforehand and added lots of mushrooms to the recipe (personal preference). Overall this dish was delicious though it took more than a half hour to bake - more along the lines of 45-50 minutes.
I was happy with this recipe. My boyfriend likes an eggplant dish so much at one of our local restaurants but said that everytime he tried to make it it turned out terrible. I have never really had it but decided to try it. I salted the eggplant and left it for 1/2 an hour before squeezing out some liquid. I think this helped a lot as it made it meatier rather then mushier. I also added three small breakfast sausages in with the eggplant which added a TON of great flavour and doubled the garlic. My boyfriend was very happy with the result and is not longer scared of eggplant recipes!
I did make a few changes: I added 1/4 cup of chopped parsley 1/4 cup of Italian cheese mixture some extra chopped garlic some dried crushed chilies and about an ounce of spicy sausage to the stuffing mixture - we like lots of flavor! Topped it with canned diced Italian tomatoes and cheddar cheese. It turned out really really good!
Are you supposed to eat the shell that holds all the stuffing? Mine was too tough so we just ate the filling. I also added some frozen okra I had left over. Instead of plain tomato sauce I used a spicy spaghetti sauce. Overall I will probably make again whenever eggplant is on sale.
Made as written and it was just OK. The filling was a little bland -- could have used some salt. Also, the eggplant and onion mixture needs to be cooked thoroughly in the pan. They didn't finish in the oven the way I expected them to. Not sure I will make again.
