Eggplant with Shrimp Stuffing

We all have those recipes that are so simple, yet so fantastic, that people practically beg us to make them, right? This is one of mine. Regardless of who I have made it for or when, there are never any leftovers and someone invariably asks for the recipe. Even a self-proclaimed hater of eggplant couldn't stop raving about this one!

Granted, summer isn't necessarily the ideal time to boil and saute and bake, but this one is worth it. It was hot as Hades in my house while I was making this batch, so I took it slow, with lots of water and sitting in front of the fan breaks. That's the beauty of this one... You can take as long as you want to make it!

First, let me point out that this time around I made a half recipe to serve two people, and where I normally use whole wheat saltines I used Club crackers because that's what I owned. A few other minor changes (Vidalia onion instead of yellow, elephant garlic instead of regular), but basically the recipe is how you'll find it at the end.

You know what? That green pepper is the very first one I picked from my very own garden! I am so absurdly pleased with myself about that I'm telling everyone who will listen and quite a few people who would rather not. I grew food! And since I only needed a little less than half of it, I ate the rest for lunch. It was amazing!

But I digress...

After removing the leaves and slicing off the stem end of the eggplant, scrub it however you prefer (I use a vegetable brush under running water) and then slice it in half lengthwise. It's not necessary to try to figure out which way it'll lay nicely after it's been sliced, as the boiling softens it so it'll cooperate regardless.

Boil the eggplant for about 10 minutes total, just enough to soften it up and make it possible to scoop out the pulp. I like to do 5-6 minutes with it face down, then finish it off face up. I have no idea if it makes any difference, since that's the way I've always done it.

Once your time is up, dump the eggplant halves into a colander and let them sit for a while until they're cool enough to handle. If you're making this on a day that's so hot you break a sweat simply standing up from your chair, feel free to take this opportunity for a cooling off break. I left it for about an hour.

When you feel like continuing, melt some butter in a skillet. Add your green pepper and onion and saute, stirring periodically, for about 5 minutes. I'm sitting here grinning like a fool looking at this picture of chopped up green pepper that I grew!!!

Sorry. I can't help myself. Moving on!

Once the green pepper and onion start to get soft, add the garlic and saute, stirring frequently, another couple of minutes. Be careful you don't burn the garlic! When that's done, scrape everything including any excess butter into a bowl.

I've found the easiest way to "scoop" out eggplant pulp is with a sharp knife and my fingers. I cut across the stem end, then down the sides, then across the bottom, being careful not to cut all the way through (but not careful enough, as you can see at the bottom end of the one on the right). Then I pull the pulp out with my fingers, which is easier since it comes out in long strings.

You don't have to remove all the seeds (or any of them if you don't want to), but I prefer to remove the majority of them. They feel weird in my mouth when I'm eating and I don't like it. Once the seeds are removed, chop the pulp into small pieces and add it to the bowl with the green pepper mixture.

In addition to the eggplant pulp, add half the cracker crumbs. Crumbs is a relative term... I don't pulse them in a food processor or anything, I just crush them with my hands like I would if I was adding them to soup. You don't want giant pieces, but they don't have to be minuscule either.

Forgot to take a picture of the chopped shrimp, but you get it, right? Remove the tails and chop them into small pieces. I happened to have the 50-60 per pound size, so I cut them into 4-5 pieces each. What you want is pieces that are roughly 1/2-inch or so. It's really up to you how big you want them, I guess. I just find it easier to get a mixture of all the flavours and textures in each bite if I do small pieces.

Spray a shallow baking pan with nonstick cooking spray, and lay the eggplant shells inside it. Then spoon your filling into each half, making sure to fill the entire cavity. You'll also want to mound it, because the filling is some kind of tasty!

Probably you'll have more filling than will fit in your eggplants. Now you have options! You can eat it with a spoon, you can put it in a small baking dish and cook it alongside the other one, you can crack an egg over it and then bake it (this is amazing as breakfast!), or you can use it for a sandwich. It's really good on a toasted English muffin with a slice of melted cheese over it, and I've also had it stuffed into a croissant and then lightly toasted.

Mix the rest of the crushed crackers with the rest of the butter, and then sprinkle them over the top. I tend to err on the side of more rather than less butter, so my crumbs are always a little wetter than what you'd expect. I like this picture because you can easily see what I mean about crushing rather than grinding the crackers.

I swear this is a different picture! This was taken after 25 minutes in the oven, and if I hadn't been so darn hungry I would've stuck them back in for a few more minutes to brown up the crackers. Doesn't matter; they were really good!

Yes, a serving is one half an eggplant. But as you can see, that's really not so huge. This one is sitting on a standard sized dinner plate, and there was still room for a side dish even after I cut it up for eating. There's good stuff in there; don't be shy about eating your fill!

Eggplant with Shrimp Stuffing

Serves 4

1 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined, cooked and chopped
2 small eggplant, cut in half lengthwise
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups whole wheat cracker crumbs, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 tablespoons butter, melted (or more, if needed for crumbs)

Preheat oven to 300F. Heat a large pot of water to a boil; add eggplant halves and boil 10 minutes. Drain and set aside until cool enough to handle.

Meanwhile, saute onion and green pepper in 2 tablespoons butter until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and black pepper and saute an additional 2 minutes.

Scoop out eggplant pulp, leaving about a 1/2-inch shell. Place eggplant halves open side up in a shallow baking dish.

Remove seeds from pulp and combine with onion mixture, shrimp, and 1 cup cracker crumbs; add salt and pepper to taste.

Divide shrimp mixture evenly among eggplant shells.

Combine remaining cracker crumbs with 4 tablespoons melted butter; sprinkle over tops of stuffed eggplant halves.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until heated through and crumbs are lightly browned.

Serving Size: 433g (1/2 eggplant with stuffing)

Calories: 518

Calories from Fat: 233

Total Fat: 25.9g

Saturated Fat: 12.8g

Cholesterol: 285mg

Sodium: 643mg

Total Carbohydrates: 42.9g

Dietary Fiber: 12.6g

Sugars: 8.4g

Protein: 31.8g