This vegan stuffed eggplant is filled with a rainbow of veggies and packed with the flavours of the south of France. Creamy roasted eggplant topped with fresh summer veggies, homemade tomato sauce, Mediterranean herbs and a sprinkling of crispy toasted breadcrumbs. This delicious and impressive dish is easy to prepare and makes a wonderful vegetarian or vegan main dish.

It’s Friday! While normally at this time I’d be relaxing and enjoying a glass of wine to kick off the weekend, I decided after our wine-heavy weekend in La Rioja to not touch another glass for the next month. This means I can take advantage of my clear head to write one final post for this week and bring you the final installement of my southern French series of recipes: vegan stuffed eggplant provençal.

If you have read my previous two posts, then you know that I was inspired to prepare a series of French recipes after our recent day-trip across the border into southern France. The first stop on our trip was to the town of Carcassonne. While wandering though town, we stumbled across a wine shop and took advantage to pick up a couple bottles of locally produced wine. We then made our way up the hill and visited the medieval fortress for which the city is famous.

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Stuffed vegetables exist in many forms throughout the Mediterranean region, and a multitude of variations of vegan stuffed eggplant abound. These vegan stuffed mushrooms are great as party finger food, and these easy vegetarian stuffed tomatoes are great served with Niçoise salad. The inspiration for this vegan stuffed eggplant recipe comes from the Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant cookbook.

The filling for this vegan stuffed eggplant recipe uses a variety of colourful fresh summer vegetables and is seasoned with the Mediterranean herbs of marjoram and thyme. They're topped with an easy homemade tomato sauce, also seasoned with Mediterranean herbs, and a sprinkling of toasted breadcrumbs for texture.

I’ve made a couple of adaptations to this recipe due to the availability of ingredients and I also decided to offer it as a vegan recipe by leaving out the cheese in the original recipe.

This is a great dish to make ahead as the various components of this recipe: roasted eggplants, filling, sauce and breadcrumbs, can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated until you are ready to prepare the final dish. Simply assemble the stuffed eggplants and pop them in the oven until heated through.

Vegan Stuffed Eggplant Provençal

Yield: Serves 4

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Adapted from: Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant

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Ingredients

For the eggplants

• 2 large or 3 medium eggplants
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• Salt

For the sauce

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Half a medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 tomatoes, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• ⅛ teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram or ¾ teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

For the stuffing

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 small red pepper, diced
• 1 small zucchini, diced
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) mushrooms, diced
• 70 grams (2.5 oz) pine nuts (optional)
• 2 tablespoons of currants or raisins
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram or ¾ teaspoon of dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the topping

• ½ cup (45 grams) bread crumbs

Instructions

For the eggplants

1. Preheat the oven to 260° Celsius (500° Fahrenheit). Cut the eggplants in half and brush each cut side with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt. Place the eggplants cut side down on a greased baking sheet and bake them for about 20 minutes until soft inside. They should still be firm outside and able to hold their shape. Remove from oven and set aside.

For the sauce

1. Heat the oil in a medium sized pan over medium heat. Cook the onions until translucent. Add the garlic and bay leaf and continue cooking for another couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper, and herbs. Simmer for about 15 minutes until the tomatoes have reduced and thickened. Finally, add the tomato paste and cook for a further 10 minutes.

For the stuffing

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat and cook the onions until translucent. Add the garlic and the carrots and continue cooking until the garlic is soft and fragrant. Add the rest of the stuffing ingredients and cook for 15 minutes, or until all the vegetables are tender.

For the topping

1. Heat a small pan over medium heat and add the breadcrumbs. Toast, stirring frequently, until golden brown in colour.

For the stuffed eggplants

1. Stuff the eggplant halves by pushing the flesh to the sides with the back of a spoon. Spoon in the filling and top with the breadcrumbs. Spoon the sauce on top to serve.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 490Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 541mgCarbohydrates: 70gFiber: 15gSugar: 30gProtein: 11g

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