Stuffed eggplants in the pan with tomato sauce. What can I say, stuffed eggplants are one of my favorite dishes, and this version, first fried and then simmered in sauce, is an absolute delight.
The special thing about this recipe is that with just a few ingredients, you can create a successful, vegetarian main dish because it has no meat and is delicious!
Called mulangiane chine, or mulangiani chini, they are a typical Calabrian recipe. They are prepared in various versions, generally without meat, first fried and then baked and covered in sauce, but there are many variations.
I made a small variation since it’s so hot, and I avoided turning on the oven, cooking them in the pan, and I have to say with great results.
The tomato sauce flavors the stuffed eggplants, making them an incredibly appetizing lunch or dinner!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4/6
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring, Summer, and Fall
- Energy 436.50 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 49.78 (g) of which sugars 5.17 (g)
- Proteins 14.62 (g)
- Fat 21.53 (g) of which saturated 6.37 (g)of which unsaturated 12.82 (g)
- Fibers 6.99 (g)
- Sodium 1,462.88 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 150 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for Stuffed Eggplants in the Pan
- 1 kg eggplants (small)
- 2 eggs (3 if they are small)
- 500 g stale bread
- 1 clove garlic
- 50 g pecorino cheese
- as needed breadcrumbs
- 50 g grated parmesan cheese
- salt
- pepper
- as needed peanut oil (for frying)
- 1 package tomato sauce (or fresh tomato sauce)
- 1 onion
- leaves basil
- salt
- pepper
Tools
- Pot
- Casserole
- Bowl
- Colander
- Pan
- Absorbent Paper
Steps for Stuffed Eggplants in the Pan
Wash the eggplants, remove the green stem, and cut them in half.
Take a large pot, fill it with lightly salted water, and bring it to a boil.
Once the water starts boiling, blanch the eggplants for about 6/7 minutes.
(Cooking times may vary depending on the size of the eggplants.)
When they become soft and cooked, place them in a colander to lose excess water.
When they are cool, scoop out the flesh, gently squeeze with your hands to avoid breaking them, and place the open boats on a plate, sprinkle the boats with a little fine salt.
(We help ourselves with a teaspoon.)
Squeeze the flesh with your hands.
Soak the stale bread in a bowl of water, and when it’s soft, squeeze it out.
In a bowl, work the softened bread, the chopped eggplant flesh, eggs, grated cheeses, garlic, and chopped parsley, adjust the salt, and pepper, and mix very well.
If it still seems too liquid, add a bit of breadcrumbs to dry it out.
If you have time, I recommend letting the mixture rest for about 30 minutes to give the flavors of the ingredients time to meld.
Fill the eggplant boats.
Pour the oil into a large pan, when it’s hot, fry the eggplants, first on the filling side and then on the skin side.
(I’ll be honest, I had some filling left, so I made patties and fried them.)
When they’re cooked, remove them and place them on kitchen paper to absorb excess oil.
Meanwhile, in a pot, cook some sauce, a very simple sauce with a bit of oil, finely chopped onion, and then cook some tomato sauce for about 30 minutes.
Obviously, the sauce shouldn’t be too thick, adjust salt and pepper and flavor with basil leaves.
Then I took the eggplants and placed them in the sauce, also adding the patties.
I gently ensured the sauce covered the eggplants.
Cook over a gentle flame for 10 minutes, allowing the flavors to meld.
Ready to be served
Enjoy your meal
Tips
Calabrian stuffed eggplants can be eaten hot just prepared, but they are also excellent when left to cool or better yet rest and eaten perhaps the next day.
To enjoy the taste of stuffed eggplants with sauce all year round, you can prepare them in summer and freeze them after stuffing and frying. To use them, just thaw them and cook them in tomato sauce.
They are excellent both hot and cold and can also be prepared the day before.
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FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Can I bake them in the oven?
Then, once all the eggplants are fried, take a sufficiently large but not too wide baking dish and place the eggplants inside.
Then cover the surface of the stuffed eggplants with tomato sauce that you had prepared earlier.
Preheat the oven to 392°F (200°C) and bake the stuffed eggplants for about 20 minutes. Then remove from the oven.Can they be frozen?
So, I fried them stuffed and then placed them in an airtight container and put them in the freezer. This way, they are ready to just make a little sauce. Once thawed, I placed them in the sauce.
What type of tomato did you use?
In summer, I use San Marzano tomatoes or beautifully ripe tomatoes and make a simple sauce, and pass it through a food mill, but canned tomato sauce and peeled tomatoes are also fine.
Garlic or onion in the sauce?
Put whichever you prefer
Do I have to fry the eggplants?
You can also avoid it. Once filled, place them in a baking dish with sauce underneath, sauce on top, and put them in the oven.
