Cheesy Stuffed Eggplant, or Melanzane Imbottite di Formaggio: Cheese and eggplant are a wonderful combination. This recipe calls for Caciocavallo , though it will work just as well with Provolone. To serve 4 you'll need:
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 70 minutes
Ingredients:
- 4 firm medium-sized eggplant
- 1 pound (500 g) plum tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded, and chopped
- 6 ounces (150 g) provolone or caciocavallo dolce
- 4 salted anchovies, rinsed and boned
- An onion, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons salted capers, rinsed (pickled capers will work if need be)
- A handful of basil leaves
- 2 cloves garlic
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
Wash the eggplant, trim the stems, and make several deep parallel cuts lengthwise into each, without slicing all the way through to the base. Open the eggplant the way you might a book, dusting both sides of each "page" with salt and stand them up in a colander for an hour. In the meantime, finely slice the onions and gently sauté it in a couple of tablespoons of oil until it is well wilted. Add the tomatoes, season to taste with salt and pepper, and simmer the sauce for a half hour. Shred the basil, mince the garlic, rinse the capers, rinse and bone the anchovies, and add everything to the sauce. Cook for a few minutes more.Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C), and while it's heating finely dice the cheese. Rinse the eggplant and pat the pages dry. Distribute the cheese and the sauce evenly between the pages, arrange them in an ovenproof serving dish, sprinkle them with abundant olive oil, and bake them for an hour. Serve them hot or cold.
