Stuffed Baked Eggplant Aubergine Clean Eating Vegan Starter Recipe

Hello everyone!

November has begun, and so have the festivities for Christmas. Everyone is starting to plan their Christmas celebrations, which includes thinking about starters to go with seasonal dinner parties.  I have just started a new teaching job in Lisbon, so I'm constantly meeting new people, and I have invited some people around for a dinner party.  One of the people coming is vegan, so I need to do a sensational vegan three course meal!

For the starter, I have chosen to do stuffed baked aubergines (in the UK we call them aubergines, and in the USA they are called 'eggplant'):-

As you all know, I have recently moved to Portugal.  I am embracing the Portuguese way of life, in all its sunny, olivey, tomatoey, red wine deliciousness.  Perhaps moving out here was taking it too far?  All or nothing, I say!  Living here to me means friends, family, sunshine and vitamin D, coastal air, healthy veg, fruit, aubergines, freshly caught fish, a generous helping of oxygen and some Portuguese wine.  

So this starter recipe celebrates all of these factors, including one of my fave all time veggies; aubergines or eggplant.  In Portuguese it's called 'beringela'. Their gorgeous deep purple skin adds depth and colour to any dish.  Its texture is silky and hearty, deliciously soaking up all flavours like nothing else can.

Here, we have a lovely balance of sweet tomatoes, fresh parsley, garlic anda a sweet sauce.  Of course you can get creative with the filling ideas; you could add capers, asparagus, olives, basil, onion and loads more.

Here is my video of the recipe:

Ingredients

2 aubergines, 10 cherry tomatoes, a large handful of fresh parsley, 5 mushrooms, 3 garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon of turmeric, 1 teaspoon of cumin, 1 teaspoon of onion powder, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon of tomato sauce or tomato paste (you can use ketchup instead), 1 teaspoon of paprika, 1 teaspoon of red pepper powder, 1 teaspoon of wholegrain mustard, a sprinkling of chilli flakes, one tablespoon of organic apple cider vinager.

Method to the madness

Pre-heat oven to 150C.  Cut two aubergines in half lengthways. Score and place in oven for 20 minutes.  While they are baking in the oven, prepare the filling.

Chop up the cherry tomatoes, the garlic, the mushrooms and the garlic into smallish pieces. Toss them into a bowl.  Add all of the other ingredients to make up the sauce.  Stir the mixture.  

After the time is up, take the aubergine halves out of the oven. Leave them to cool down for 7 minutes. Loosen the insides with a knife.  Be careful not to punch through to the skins. Scoop out the aubergine flesh and add it to the mixture.  Give it a stir.  Add the mixture to the inside of the eggplant skins and place on a baking tray:-

Bake at 150C for 15-20 minutes.  Leave to cool, and enjoy.  

Absolutely gorgeous!  I really hope you'll give this fantastic healthy recipe a try!  Let me know what you think on the comments below.  Feel free to subscribe to my youtube channel here and also please visit my Instagram page, my facebook page, my pinterest page and my twitter account.

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