It’s eggplant season! Eggplants are underrated I think and when sautéed, their flavors are perfect and marry so well with other in season produce, like tomatoes which is exactly what I did here.

This dish takes about 45 minutes and is packed with flavors and nutrients. I treat the eggplant similar to spaghetti squash in this dish. The key to perfectly baking this eggplant “bowl” is to set them in a rimmed baking sheet with a little bit of water. My tomatoes and eggplant are from Tony Tomatoes in St. Louis.

Tomato and Pork Stuffed Eggplant

Prep time: 15 minutes| Cook time: 30 minutes | Total time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 large eggplant
• 1/2 cup olive oil, divided into two parts
• 1 lb ground pork sausage from Red Barn Farm Meats
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 1 small tomato, diced
• 1/2 cup Alfredo sauce
• 2 tbs parsley
• 1 tbs minced garlic
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tbs oregano
• 4 slices of provolone cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Recipe

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Cut the eggplant in half longways so you have two long halves. Using a spoon, scoop out the inside of the eggplant and seeds.
• Take pieces of the eggplant that do not have too many seeds and cut them into 1/2 inch pieces and set aside. You’ll want to cut up about 1 to 2 cups worth of eggplant.
• Using the divided olive oil, drizzle it over the two halves of scooped out eggplants and then add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
• In a large saucepan, cook the ground pork sausage until it’s almost completely browned.
• Add the onion, tomato, sliced eggplant, garlic, thyme and oregano.
• Once the onion, eggplant and tomato begin to soften, add in the Alfredo sauce and stir until it coats everything.
• Add a little bit of water to the rimmed baking sheet and set the two eggplant bowls on it.
• Spoon the pork mixture into the bowls so each are filled to the top.
• Put the eggplants into the oven at 400 for 25 minutes.
• After 25 minutes, pull the eggplants out and lay two pieces of provolone on each eggplant half, sprinkle with parsley and bake for another 5 minutes so the cheese melts.
• Remove from oven and serve immediately!
• Note: store in an airtight container and to reheat– bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

XO, Rachel