Vegetarian Stuffed Eggplant

Ingredients

• 600 g eggplants (2 large)
• Salt
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 250 g red lentils
• 2 onions
• 2 Garlic cloves
• 1 Zucchini
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp Tomato paste
• Pepper
• chili flakes
• 125 g mozzarella (45% fat in whole milk)
• 2 Spring Onions
• 4 sprigs Parsley
• 4 tbsp sambal oelek (60 g)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Clean, wash and halve the eggplants; place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and drizzle with 2 tbsp oil. Roast in a preheated oven at 200 °C (180 °C fan‑forced or gas level 3) for 45 minutes until golden brown.

2. 2.

   Meanwhile cook the lentils in double the amount of boiling water for 10 minutes.

3. 3.

   In the meantime peel and chop the onions and garlic. Clean, wash and dice the zucchini. Heat the remaining oil in a pan; sauté onions and garlic for 3 minutes over medium heat, then add zucchini and cook for 7 more minutes.

4. 4.

   Add lentils, lemon juice, tomato paste and 50 ml water to the zucchini mixture, cover and simmer for another 15 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and chili.

5. 5.

   Remove the eggplants from the oven; scoop out the flesh in the center, chop it finely and mix into the lentil filling. Slice mozzarella into 8 pieces. Fill the eggplant halves with the lentil mixture, top each with two slices of mozzarella, then bake for an additional 8–10 minutes.

6. 6.

   Trim and thinly slice the spring onions; wash and chop parsley. Sprinkle the stuffed eggplants with spring onions, parsley and drizzle with sambal oelek before serving.