Melanzane a barchetta or Stuffed eggplant is an easy and delicious vegetarian meal – quick to whip up on a weeknight and great for leftovers!
Melanzane a Barchetta
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Ingredients
- 3 Italian eggplants, halved lengthways
- 1 pint (25 to 30) cherry tomatoes, halved lengthways
- 10 green or black olives, pitted
- 2 to 3 tbsp (30 to 45 mL) capers, drained
- 1/3 cup (75 mL) to ½ cup (125 mL) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- ½ cup (125 mL) passata
- Fresh oregano, chopped, or dried (optional), QB
- Salt, QB
- Pepper, QB
- 1 cup (250 mL) shredded mozzarella
- 1 cup (250 mL) shredded smoked scamorza
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 400
Scoop the inside of the eggplant out, leaving a little bit of the flesh around the edges. You’re going to stuff the filling back in, so you don’t want the eggplants to fall apart when they cook. Arrange the eggplant shells, cut-side up, on a baking sheet and set aside.
Divide the filling into equal portions and fill each of the eggplant halves. Add another good drizzle of olive oil over each one.
Spoon a little of the passata on each half, and add a pinch of salt and a sprinkle of fresh oregano. Top with mozzarella and scamorza.
Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes, until the eggplant is tender and the top is golden.
These beauties always taste better when they’ve been sitting for a while. The flavors intensify as they cool. So when they’re done, I turn off the heat and let them rest in the oven for another hour and a half and I serve them at room temperature.