Goats cheese stuffed aubergines

See here for pictures

Ingredients

• 2 LARGE AUBERGINES
• 1 WHEEL OF GOATS CHEESE
• 500G MINCEMEAT
• 2 CLOVES OF GARLIC
• 5 SPRIGS OF FRESH ROSEMARY
• 2 RIPE TOMATOES
• 1 RED ONION
• 2 EGGS
• SALT AND PEPPER

So when I was small, my mum used to make a dish she called ‘Provence’. This consisted of stuffing vegetables with meat, wrapping them in tinfoil and popping them in the oven until they were deliciously juicy and tender. She served these with fried potatoes and veggies. This is somewhat similar, though taken to the next level. I am a huge fan of cheese, so this recipe is one of my absolute favourites.

For this recipe, it’s a ‘mix everything together in a huge bowl’ tactic. The only tedious part if hollowing out the aubergines.

For hollowing out the aubergines, take a spoon and scoop out the flesh bit by bit. Don’t go too quickly or you’ll pierce the bottom and the skin will break (which means all the juice from the stuffing will leak into the baking tray and make everything soggy). I hate (and never do) waste food when I’m cooking, so either save the aubergine for another dish or simply mix in the flesh with the meat – it’s up to you!

Cut the onion/tomatoes/garlic/rosemary into small chunks. If they’re too large it’ll distract from the meat so make them nice and tiny.

Whip those eggs up and stir into the meat, then chuck the cut ingredients and mix it well.

Now for the cheese (which makes the dish as it is not the same without cheese). I would usually use soft goats cheese for this one – as it’s easier to crumble and tastes better here. So crumble the cheese with your fingers and mush everything together with your hands. There’s no use using a wooden spoon here – it’s a bit like making burgers in the sense that everything has to be completely mixed together into one large ‘pattie’ if you will.

Don’t forget to season! Add the salt and pepper. A good amount mind you – it needs all the flavour.

Simply place these glorious looking aubergines into the oven until the meat is thoroughly cooked. This is definitely a go-to recipe or me, as it reminds me of home and it’s so cosy and warm. I pretended to be a pro and drizzled the ganache over the plate in an artistic manner. That or it looks like I just spilt red paint everywhere.

If you’re looking for a way to make the tomato purée/ganache/sauce, I usually get some tomato purée and add some water and a touch of date syrup. It all depends on preference but if you go overboard with the syrup it tastes sickly sweet, and too much purée tastes too heavy. Just heat it up over a saucepan and taste it every so often. You’ll need a good bit of water though – otherwise it’ll end up as a paste.

bon appetit