Ingredients

Method

Wash your eggplants. Slice them in half lengthwise leaving their stems attached. Bake the eggplants face down on a lightly oiled tray at 180° C (350°F) for about 25 minutes... they should be nice & brown on their underside. When they have cooled enough to handle them scoop out the insides of each piece. Do this carefully.... as close to the eggplant skin as you can but keep the skin of the eggplant intact as a shell so that you will be able to use it to stuff the mixture back into. note:if you have an ice cream scoop with a "forked" edge it works well for this scooping out part. Chop the insides of the eggplant into smallish chunks. In a frying pan sauté the onion & garlic until onions are clear& garlic is browned a bit. Add the scooped out chunks of eggplant, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes and all of the herbs to the onions & garlic. Sauté until all the vegetables are soft & savory. Remove from heat and place in a mixing bowl. Combine vegetable mixture with the ricotta (or feta), bread crumbs, salt & pepper. Scoop a generous amount into each eggplant shell . Sprinkle the top of each shell with Parmesan cheese and paprika. Bake in a lightly buttered baking dish or on a tray uncovered at 180°C for 40 minutes.

This recipe can be changed easily to a different combination of vegetables. I also like to make it with spinach & mushrooms & the cheeses (instead of the tomatoes & pepper)