Vegetarian Delicacy: Rice-Stuffed Eggplant With Parmesan Cheese

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One of the worst things about most people’s cooking routine is that we always end up having the same dishes because we don’t feel creative enough to try new ones. This usually leads to having less of a variety of ingredients and the first thing we discard is vegetables, right?

If you struggle to include greens in your diet because you don’t like them that much or because you feel they are not fun enough either to cook or eat, this recipe is for you: https://minuterice.com/recipes/rice-stuffed-eggplant-parmesan/.

Stuffed vegetables are both filling and appetizing and can generally be eaten on their own. You can only focus on one meal and not a main and a side dish at the same time. In this article, you’ll find a recipe you can follow.

How to store the eggplants

If you want to make a delicious meal, you need to heighten the flavor of the eggplant. Storage is one of those things that will either mess with or make the most of it. Eggplants can be stored either in the fridge, the freezer and even at room temperature, but there are a few tips you can take to do so.

If you are going to store it in your fridge, note that it will only last a week or so, depending on how mature you get the eggplant at your local produce shop. If you want to make it last longer, make sure you wrap it around some wet paper towels and keep it in the crisper drawer. This is, of course,if you haven’t cooked it yet. If so, you should store it in an airtight container.

Now, if you want to keep it in your freezer, the eggplant will last much longer, but make sure you blanch it first. Also, it is advisable you peel the skin. Once done, cut it roughly and boil it for a few minutes first. 

If you’re planning to make a meal a day or two after you buy the eggplants, keep them at room temperature in a place where the air flows naturally. Make sure it doesn’t get hit by any direct sunlight and that will be more than enough.

Ingredients:

  • 3 eggplants.
  • Salt to taste.
  • Pepper to taste.
  • Olive oil.
  • 2 cloves of garlic.
  • 1 ½ cups of tomato basil pasta sauce.
  • ½ cup of water.
  • 1 cup of Jasmine rice.
  • 2 cups of mozzarella cheese.
  • ½ cup of Parmesan cheese.
  • ¼ cup of fresh parsley.

Follow these steps:

  1. Preheat your oven to a maximum temperature. In the meantime, prepare a roaster with some foil paper and drizzle it with a good amount of extra virgin olive oil. 
  2. Take three eggplants and half them. Scoop out the pulp leaving a generous border inside. Do not discard the pulp and season the eggplant with some salt and pepper. Drizzle some more olive oil all over the eggplants, place them in the roaster and take it to the oven for about half an hour. Cook over a medium heat.
  3. In the meantime, in a wide skillet, preheat some olive oil. Chop up two cloves of garlic and take it to the skillet. Brown it for a minute and add the pulp of the eggplants. hop it up ahead.
  4. Season everything with some salt and pepper to taste and cook until the eggplant has softened. Once done, remove and set it aside.
  5. Now, take the tomato basil pasta sauce to the skillet and add a cup of water. Integrate and bring the mix to a boil. Add a cup of Jasmine rice and cook until the liquid has fully absorbed or the rice is done and tender.
  6. Fluff the rice and add the eggplant mix. Stir everything together and turn the heat off.
  7. Add the mozzarella and the Parmesan cheese and include two tablespoons of fresh parsley. Your stuffing is ready.
  8. Take the eggplants from the stove and fill them up. Top everything with some more mozzarella or Parmesan cheese and bake for some more minutes until the cheese has melted. Garnish with some parsley and serve!

Extra tip: 

Choose the best eggplants by their looks. The ones that are darker in color and smoother in texture are the fresher in the market. Make sure you choose those ones when you don’t plan to store them for more than just a few days.