Sausage Stuffed Eggplant

I am always up against the question, what should I do with what is in my refrigerator? I got an email this morning from Dave saying he is defrosting sausage, and reminding me of our gorgeous eggplant...

I have been brainstorming all day what I want to do. I know we have some crisp broccoli, onion, garlic, 1 zucchini...

Lasagna, Eggplant Parm with sausage sauce, Baked Ziti, Just a sauce mish mashed together? Sounds like the same old thing to me..

Working with a lot of stressful deadlines and drama I decided to take a break and think further about my dinner plans. I went to http://www.allrecipes.com/ to use the ingredients search. After typing in eggplant and sausage what I found were a few recipes for stuffed eggplant. What a brilliant idea! With the wheels turning at full speed I knew exactly, almost exactly, what I was going to make.

Don't be intimidated by the ingredients or the lengthy instructions, it is really quick and simple.

Shopping List:

• 1 Eggplant
• 2 Italian Sweet Sausages
• 1 cup of  chopped mushrooms (white or portabella)
• 1/4 of an onion chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic (pressed)
• 3 big dashes of parsley
• 1 big dash of red pepper flakes
• 3 big dashes of oregano
• 2 big turns of the fresh cracked pepper
• 2 tablespoons of a nice red wine (if you have it)
• 1 8oz can of diced tomatoes use 2/3 of the can (because you don't want too much liquid)
• 2.5 Tablespoons of plain breadcrumbs
• Cheese- I used muenster because it was all I had, Parmesan would be great too

Putting it Together:

1. Cut/Scoop the eggplant out of the skin (this is the hardest part) I used a small pairing knife to scrape out all the bits for some added precision. Be careful not to pierce the skins.
2. chop the eggplant and soak in salted water for 15 minutes. Salt the skins.
3. Add the two sausages to a large wok with 1 tablespoon of oil (any kind) onion and garlic
4. While the sausage starts to cook add the dashes of all spices
5. Once the sausage is browned up add eggplant, cook until the eggplant starts to cook down and turns a beautiful golden color
6. Once the eggplant is just right add the mushrooms, cook for another 3 minutes or so.
7. Add approximately 3 tablespoons of a delicious red wine to enhance the flavor after it cooks in (30 seconds to a minute) add the tomatoes.
8. Let it sizzle for approximately 10 minutes
9. Add breadcrumbs

10. Blot the eggplant shells with a paper towel and stuff!

11. Bake for 20 minutes. With 5 minutes left top with cheese.

Notes:

- I was hesitant to add the breadcrumbs, but it gave the mixture a nice consistency and soaked up the liquid without compromising the flavor.

- It should be eaten by scraping the bottom of the eggplant off the bottom. By salting the remaining flesh on the skins you are preparing it to absorb all the wonderful juices of the filing.

- I didn't try to eat the skin because it just wasn't appealing.

- Next time I'd try to leave the top of the eggplant on to maintain some shape- the eggplant flattened out and I would have liked it to look a little more like a bowl.

- The eggplant cooked really well on aluminum foil and did not stick, there is no need to grease, and it is an easy clean up.

 - This is GREAT for an ALMOST carb free dinner!

- I know it tastes great, but be careful not to bite your tongue (the only unpleasant part of my meal! ha!)