what's cooking wednesday: calabrian stuffed eggplant

It's about that time when melanzane (eggplants or aubergines) are everywhere I look, so I'm passing along one of my favorite ways to prepare them.

I'm not going to lie to you. I would never have even attempted to do anything with eggplant when I lived in America. I just wasn't brought up with it, although maybe I had it once in an eggplant parmesan or something. Obviously it didn't leave much of an impression if I did.

Now I'll eat these pretty purple fruits any way imaginable: grilled, in a sauce, baked, or as today's What's Cooking Wednesday, stuffed.

Combine my love for stuffed eggplant with the fact that tomorrow we're on Spaghetti Strike, and I thought that this would be a good recipe to get you through the pasta-less day. I'm giving you time to buy ingredients, you see--for buying and storing tips, go here.

The eggplant is a member of the nightshade family closely related to the tomato, and just like it's red, juicy, fruit of a cousin, it, too, was at one time considered poisonous. In fact, the Italian name "melanzana" is said to come from the Latin "mela insana," or poisonous (literally unhealthy) apple.

The eggplant isn't native to these parts, though, as it originated in India and arrived in Italy with the Arabs during the Middle Ages. Since then, Calabrians have been throwing them in just about every dish imaginable--always with delicious results.

One of my very favorite things that P's mom makes is melanzane ripiene--and as P will be the first to tell you, the traditional, old school Calabrese way is decidedly *without* meat, so that's what we'll be doing today. Also, frying is the usual method around here, although of course you can also make these baked.

I must note that in researching this post, I came across a version by Cream Puffs in Venice that is quite similar to P's mom's recipe--I don't know the exact Italian heritage of Ivonne, the author of that gorgeous, mouth-watering blog, but from this recipe, it's obvious to me that her mom has ties to the "toe."

Viva la Calabria!

Stuffed Eggplant

(Melanzane Ripiene)

8 small (size of your hand or smaller) eggplants

1 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
1 1/4 cup grated pecorino or parmigiano cheese
About a handful of cubed provolone
2 eggs
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup basil, chopped
salt to taste
oil for frying

Wash and dry them and cut them in half length-wise.

Although in Ivonne's recipe, the directions are to boil the eggplants as one piece, P's mom does them in parts. So, from the raw eggplant halves, cut out the flesh being careful not to come too close to the skin, in fact leaving about 1/8 inch of flesh attached to it.

Boil the skins for about 5 minutes until just tender and then transfer to strainer. After a few minutes, place skins on paper towels, open-side down, until ready to use again.

Meanwhile, chop the flesh of the eggplant into very small pieces and then boil for about 5 minutes, also until tender. Transfer to strainer, and be sure to squeeze out excess water well.

In a mixing bowl, put breadcrumbs, cheese, eggs, garlic, basil, and salt with the eggplant flesh and mix well. Try a little bit of the mix to make sure the seasoning, especially salt, is OK.

Now take the eggplant shells and poke gently with a fork in a few spots; P's mom says so this is so the eggplants don't explode while frying. I'd rather not see that happen, so I do it too.

Lightly salt the eggplant shells and then fill them with the mixture; you may have to spread out the filling a bit to be sure it reaches all ends of the shell. Before you pack it all in though, tuck a cube or two of provolone into the stuffing of each eggplant. P's mom says this helps things stay together. Again, I'm a fan of that, so I do it too.

FYI, you want the filling so that it's fairly level with the shell, a little domed on the top.

Now you're ready to fry, so heat up about an inch of your favorite frying oil (P's mom uses olive oil but vegetable would work too). Once hot, put the eggplants in stuffing-side up. Fry for about 5 minutes or until golden brown, flip, and then fry the other side for a few minutes as well.

Remove from oil and drain on paper towels.

At this point, you can put these in a tomato-based sauce if you like, but we like to just eat them this way--and usually with our hands like good old-fashioned street food, only at home.

It's a lot of work to be sure, but it's *so* worth it.

Buon appetito!

*About the photos:

The first photo is used under a Creative Commons License from Gare and Kitty's photostream on Flickr. The second is mine all mine taken with a web cam (thus the less than stellar quality). Forgive me, please, but things will get better soon. I found out yesterday that I have a Camera Fairy!