Pretty purple stuffed eggplant are so amazing with a mixture of ground meat, chickpeas, tomatoes, fresh herbs, red onion, bell pepper, garlic and your choice of rice, quinoa or couscous with salty creamy feta on the top. It’s a colorful, hearty, delicious and healthy meal served up in a beautiful edible “bowl”! Bonus: you’ll have extra filling, so you can also stuff some peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes or zucchini – or whatever your heart desires.
I was sad to see the flea beetles eating up my eggplant plant in my garden this year. So my mom graciously offered to share some of her eggplant with me. I was so grateful because I just adore eggplant. Some people gripe about eggplant, but in my world, this lovely purple fruit totally rocks.
Is Eggplant a Fruit or Veggie?
Yes, eggplant is technically a fruit, even though we typically treat it as a veggie. If you haven’t noticed, I love to stuff my veggies full of yummy goodness. And make them into a meal, all on their own. I find eggplant is buttery, hearty and meaty all on its own. So you really don’t NEED any meat with it.
You should know this amazing vegetarian version of this recipe on the Chow Down Food Blog is the basis of my recipe. But my dad was going through chemo and needed a lot of protein to build back his red blood cells. So yeah, I felt like I had to add some meat. If you’re looking for protein, you’ll find it in this delightful stuffed eggplant recipe. But you can always leave out the meat if you want a plant-based meal.
How do you make Mediterranean Stuffed Eggplant?
We start by scooping out the eggplant, leaving a nice shell to hold the filling. Chop that up, toss it with olive oil and roast it up. While that’s cooking, mix your choice of healthy carbs (rice, quinoa or couscous) with sun dried tomatoes, ground meat, chickpeas, cheese, egg and chopped fresh herbs. Once the eggplant is done, you toss it all together, stuff into the eggplant shells, bake … and enjoy!
I was so smitten with this recipe the moment I tasted it! I took some to my dad in the hospital as he was getting his last weekly dose of chemo … he heartily approved of it as well. Thanks to Kasey at the Chow Down Blog for the inspiration. 🙂
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Meaty Mediterranean Stuffed Eggplant
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 45 min
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 – 6 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 2 baby eggplant or 1 medium (I used baby eggplant)
- 2 – 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Greek seasoning (recipe here)
- 1/2 of a medium red onion, chopped
- 2 – 4 cloves garlic, peeled & chopped
- 1/2 of a sweet bell pepper, chopped (preferably red, yellow or orange)
- 1 cup cooked quinoa, couscous or brown rice
- 1/4 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
- 1 cup cooked ground meat (venison, beef, lamb or chicken work well)
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 small tomato, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
- Optional: 1/2 cup cottage cheese
- 1 egg, whisked
- 1 – 2 Tablespoons EACH: fresh chopped basil and fresh chopped oregano leaves
- 2 – 4 Tablespoons crumbled feta
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F. Scoop out the middle flesh of the eggplant leaving about 1/2 inch shell. Chop the removed flesh of the eggplant. Brush the eggplant shells with olive oil and then toss the chunks with 1 – 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, onion, garlic and bell pepper. Set the shells on a baking sheet lined with silicone mat, with the and chopped eggplant mixture on the side. Bake at 400 F. for 20 – 30 minutes or until the eggplant is tender.
- Meanwhile, mix the quinoa, couscous or rice with sun dried tomatoes, cooked ground meat, chickpeas, cheese, tomato, cottage cheese, egg and herbs. When the eggplant mixture is done, add the chopped eggplant mix to the rest of the filling.
- Stuff the eggplant shells with the filling mixture and top with crumbled feta. Bake at 400 F. for about 10 – 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the stuffing is hot and cooked through. Enjoy!
Notes
Refrigerate any leftovers in the fridge. Use the extra filling for stuffing other eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms or tomatoes.
RECIPE SOURCE: Sumptuous Spoonfuls – https://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/ … © Copyright 2024, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.
Keywords: Eggplant, Mediterranean, Chickpeas, Garbanzo Beans, Ground meat, Tomatoes
