Halved aubergines stuffed with a rich tomato-aubergine & caper sauce, layered with breadcrumbs, pecorino, thyme and mozzarella. A delicious vegetarian main or side dish.
200g(7 ounces or ~4 medium) tomatoes, roughly diced
2clovesgarlic, crushed
1tbspbalsamic vinegar
1tbspcapers(optional)
2tbsptomato paste
Breadcrumb mixture
60gcoarse, dry breadcrumbsor 4 Ryvita dark rye breads
25g(1/2 cup) Pecorino or Parmesan cheese, grated
2tspolive oil
3sprigs thyme, leaves picked
black pepper
For layering
125gball fresh mozzarella, drained and diced
fresh basil/thyme leaves for garnish
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 180°C fan (350°F).
Cut the aubergines in half down their lengths. Use a spoon to scoop out the centre flesh of the aubergine leaving a 1cm thick border. Save the flesh for later.
2 medium aubergines
Place the aubergine halves on a baking tray, cut side up, and drizzle with some olive oil. Use a pastry brush or your fingers to spread it around over the cut surface of the aubergine and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Bake for ~20 minutes until soft.
olive oil, salt
Make tomato-aubergine filling:
Roughly chop up the aubergine flesh from earlier.
Heat a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the chopped aubergine flesh and a pinch of salt to the dry pan. Cook until the aubergine has shrunk and is starting to brown then add 1 tbsp olive oil and cook for a few minutes more to help the aubergine soften.
1 tbsp olive oil
Add the shallot and cook, stirring, until translucent (~5 minutes). Next stir in the tomato and garlic. Finally stir in the balsamic vinegar, capers and tomato paste. Take it off the heat and set aside.
If using ryvita rye breads, pop them into a sandwich bag and bash them up until broken down to the size of small breadcrumbs. Mix the ryvita crumbs (or breadcrumbs) with the pecorino, olive oil, thyme leaves and a few grinds of black pepper in a bowl and set aside.
60 g coarse, dry breadcrumbs, 25 g (1/2 cup) Pecorino or Parmesan cheese, grated, 3 sprigs thyme, black pepper, 2 tsp olive oil
Assemble and bake:
Take your baked aubergine halves from earlier. Place a spoonful of the tomato mixture into the base of each half and spread out into an even layer. Top with a layer of diced mozzarella and a layer of the ryvita mixture. Repeat this layering once more to use all the remaining tomato/mozzarella/breadcrumb mixture.
125 g ball fresh mozzarella
Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and bake for a further ~30 minutes until the cheese has melted and they're golden and bubbling.
Sprinkle with some fresh thyme/basil if you like and serve hot.