Eggplant Boats with Mushrooms and Sausages, or Barchette di Melanzane Con Funghi e Salsiccia: A tasty fall antipasto. To serve 4:
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 4 small long (as opposed to round) eggplants
- 10 ounces (250 g) porcini (use portabellas if need be)
- 6 ounces (150 g) mild pork sausage
- 3 tomatoes, blanched, peeled, shopped, seeded and drained
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano
- 5-6 basil leaves, shredded
- Sprigs of parsley
- A clove of garlic, cut in half
- Olive oil
Preparation:
Preheat your oven to 380 F (190 C).Wash the eggplant, cut them in half lengthwise, and scoop out the middles. Salt the cavities, put the eggplant in a baking pan, cover the pan with aluminum foil, and bake them for 20 minutes (they should be soft but not too soft).
Trim the roots from the mushrooms, wipe the dirt off with a cloth, and dice them lengthwise. Dice the flesh you scooped from the eggplants.
Heat a quarter cup of olive oil with the garlic. Skin the sausages and crumble them into the oil; once the meat has begun to brown add the mushrooms , crumble the sausage into it, and once it has begun to brown add the mushrooms and the diced eggplant. Cook for five minutes over a medium flame, then increase the heat to high and add the tomatoes. After a few seconds turn off the burner, stir in the parsley and the grated cheese, and check seasoning.
Stuff the hollowed out eggplant with the filling and heat them in a 360 F (180 C) 0ven for about 10 minutes. Serve them hot or warm as an antipasto.
