By Martha Rose Shulman
- Total Time
- 2 hours 15 minutes
- Rating
- 4(104)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Travel anywhere in the Mediterranean region, and you will find stuffed vegetables. In Provence, they tend to be filled with meat (a way to stretch leftover stews), but in the Middle East and Greece rice and grain fillings prevail. Regional cooks make abundant use of fresh herbs like parsley, dill and mint, and sweet spices like cinnamon and allspice. Fragrant stuffed vegetables can be made ahead of the meal and served hot or at room temperature. They don’t require a lot of patience to assemble — they just need a long simmer and then a rest to let the flavors mingle and intensify. Eat them as a main dish or a side, and serve up leftovers for lunch. The filling for these irresistible stuffed eggplants is also good for peppers and squash. Substitute the chopped flesh of the summer squash for the eggplant, and just use the rice and tomatoes for peppers. Make these a day ahead for best results.
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Ingredients
Yield:Serves six
- 2½ to 3pounds small or medium eggplants
- Salt to taste
- 1½pounds tomatoes, grated on the large holes of a box grater
- 3tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 to 6garlic cloves to taste, minced
- ½cup uncooked long-grain or basmati rice
- ½cup finely chopped cilantro
- 3tablespoons finely chopped mint
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- Juice of 2 lemons
- ½teaspoon ground allspice
- ½teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼teaspoon sugar
- 3tablespoons tomato paste
For the Eggplant Stuffed With Rice and Tomatoes
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
210 calories; 8 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 35 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams dietary fiber; 12 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 882 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
For the Eggplant Stuffed With Rice and Tomatoes
Step
1
Cut the eggplants in half. With a grapefruit spoon or a small knife, remove the flesh to within ½ inch of the skins.
Step
2
Sprinkle the eggplant shells with salt, and let sit for 30 minutes while you prepare the remaining ingredients. Chop the flesh, and steam for 20 minutes, until tender.
Step
3
In a large bowl, combine a third of the tomatoes, the steamed eggplant, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, all but 1 clove of the garlic, the rice, herbs and the juice of one of the lemons. Season with salt and pepper.
Step
4
Oil a large flameproof casserole or an earthenware casserole set over a flame tamer. Combine the remaining tomatoes, olive oil, allspice, cinnamon, lemon juice, sugar, tomato paste and remaining garlic in the casserole. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Fill the eggplant shells with the rice mixture, and arrange in the casserole in a single layer. Add water if necessary to cover about a third of the eggplant. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, cover tightly and reduce the heat to low. Simmer 45 minutes to an hour until the eggplant and rice are tender. Remove from the heat.
Step
5
Using two spatulas (the eggplants are soft at this point), transfer the eggplants to a platter. Bring the sauce to a boil. If it is not already thick, reduce until thick and fragrant. Pour over the eggplants, and allow to cool to warm or room temperature. They’re good chilled as well. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley or cilantro if desired.
Tip
- Advance preparation: These taste even better the day after they’re made; they firm up in the refrigerator and are easier to handle. They will keep for about four days in the refrigerator. I like them cold.
Ratings
4
out of 5
104
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Cooking Notes
DrJim
It's a great, delicious, healthy, filling dish which happens to be vegan. I found when making it as suggested that the rice can cook unevenly. I've made it several times since and it comes out perfectly: Instead of assembling in a casserole, I create the sauce and heat it in my All-Clad roaster on the stovetop. After putting the stuffed eggplants atop, I top the roaster tightly with foil and put it in a 350 degree oven. Take it out after 35 minutes and remove the foil after another 10.
marta
Also good with meat. Lamb or beef, cut very smal and use with rice, tomatoes, not cut small as meat, I use half rice than meat. I use garlic, mint , optional. Allspice, mandatory. Use the ggplant complete, remove partly the flesh. Use my grandmother lebanese recipe. Delicious!!
Loretta P
This was an easy and delicious dinner. I followed the advice in a previous comment to bake in the oven after making the sauce and it was done perfectly. I did baste the filling twice with the sauce to make sure that the rice would be moist enough to cook through. I also roasted the chopped eggplant for the filling with some smoked paprika rather than steam it. Otherwise, followed the recipe pretty closely. I let the dish rest about 30 minutes before serving with a kale salad and crusty bread.
Trish the Dish
I cooked 1 lb of ground beef stirred in the chopped eggplant and one can crushed tomatoes in my all clad skillet. Added rice to skillet after 10 minutes of simmering meat, eggplant and tomato mixture. Filled the eggplant shells and placed them in the solar oven for one hour. Grated manchego cheese on top right out of the oven. Let them rest for 30 minutes. Delish and easy Next time I will cook the meat and eggplant cubes ahead of time in the solar oven.I used the GoSun Grill solar oven.
Jane
Chickpeas and rose harissa - no rice
Jen
A delicious dish. I will cut the lemon juice in half next time. I did mine in a tagine, and it was quite pale, winter tomatoes are pretty blah. Will use mini San Marzano next time. Pouring the sauce over and topping with chopped parsley made it quite attractive. Will make often
LindaL
Very good. A few variations: I baked it in the oven at 375, covered, for about 40 minutes. I then grated on some pecorino romano (maybe also try feta?) at the end, and put it under the broiler for five minutes.Only thing I did not like was too sour, too much lemon. I'd use only one lemon next time.
Vanessa Lavorato
Agree, the lemon is a bit acidic, best to cut in half. I baked at 375F instead of stovetop for an hour. I used ginger chicken stock instead of water which helped balance the lemon and added some parmesan for good measure. Needs a very crusty baguette with a generous slab or butter and chunky salt to dip into the sauce.
Roberto
Made this, following recipe to a T. As stated it was even better a couple days later. Thoughts; tomatoes are acidic so lemon juice guilds the lily. As the sauce concentrated with cooking the acids concentrated too. If one retains the lemon juice then 2 or more tsp of sugar should be mixed in with it. The box grater business is all rustic and cute but also a horrible time suck. Next time the cored tomatoes go into the food processor for a few pulses. Be mindful of scorching the bottom of the pan.
ruthie
It was great but I wish i had baked it like someone else wrote bc the bottom of my dish burned. I sprinkled it with some feta which was a great addition!
Loretta P
This was an easy and delicious dinner. I followed the advice in a previous comment to bake in the oven after making the sauce and it was done perfectly. I did baste the filling twice with the sauce to make sure that the rice would be moist enough to cook through. I also roasted the chopped eggplant for the filling with some smoked paprika rather than steam it. Otherwise, followed the recipe pretty closely. I let the dish rest about 30 minutes before serving with a kale salad and crusty bread.
dee from New Orleans
Delicious! I sautéed onions, garlic and eggplant, put aside then cooked the rice partially in fire roasted tomatoes (canned). Stuffed the shells with the mixture plus a lot of cilantro and about 1/2 cup raisins. Baked at 325 about on hour. They turned out great. The combination of the spices, herbs and raisins in the mix tasted very Moroccan. Will definitely make this again.
colette
So delicious. Toast some pine nuts to throw on top if you have them!
Shirley
This could have been delicious except I found it far too lemony. The juice of 2 lemons overpowered it.
marta
Also good with meat. Lamb or beef, cut very smal and use with rice, tomatoes, not cut small as meat, I use half rice than meat. I use garlic, mint , optional. Allspice, mandatory. Use the ggplant complete, remove partly the flesh. Use my grandmother lebanese recipe. Delicious!!
DrJim
It's a great, delicious, healthy, filling dish which happens to be vegan. I found when making it as suggested that the rice can cook unevenly. I've made it several times since and it comes out perfectly: Instead of assembling in a casserole, I create the sauce and heat it in my All-Clad roaster on the stovetop. After putting the stuffed eggplants atop, I top the roaster tightly with foil and put it in a 350 degree oven. Take it out after 35 minutes and remove the foil after another 10.
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