Stuffed eggplants

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 4 eggplant(s)
• 3 tomatoes
• 1 bell pepper(s)
• 1 large onion(s)
• 500 g minced meat
• Parsley
• Garlic, optional
• Paprika powder, optional
• basil
• some ketchup or tomato paste
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours

nice and juicy, delicious

Cut a cross into the bottom of the tomatoes. Then place them in a pot of hot water—preferably from a kettle—and let them sit there. Wash the bell pepper and peel the onion. Cut both into very fine cubes. If the water isn’t quite as fine, you can always chop it finely at the end. After that, the tomatoes should have had enough “bathing.” It should now be easy to peel them at the cut point, i.e., skin the tomatoes. Remove the stems and finely chop the tomatoes. Then place them in a small pot, add the basil and salt, and simmer until the water has evaporated. Then set the tomatoes aside. Add the finely diced onion and bell pepper to the minced meat in a bowl, season with salt, pepper, and parsley, and knead well. You can also season with garlic and paprika. Briefly fry the minced meat mixture and then add the tomatoes. Mix everything well, fry briefly again, and then remove from the heat or set aside. Wash and top the eggplants. Then peel them “halfway.” It’s best to use a vegetable peeler for this. By “halfway peeling,” I mean peeling down once, leaving a piece of skin, and peeling down again. It’s best to use the picture as a guide. Next, use a small knife to make a deep, but not continuous, cut through the eggplant. Here, too, a piece should NOT be cut at the top and bottom. Then fry the eggplants over medium heat on each side. They shouldn’t turn black or become mushy. However, you should be able to gently push the cut area apart with two forks. It’s best to do this a little at a time. But be careful! Don’t force it, or the eggplant will break apart. Then place the eggplants in a baking dish, with the opening facing up. Fill it with our filling. You should still have some mixture left over. Pour in a cup of water and a dash of tomato paste or ketchup. Mix everything thoroughly and pour it over the eggplant. The bottom of the casserole dish should be covered with the sauce. Then place the eggplant in the oven at 165°C (convection oven) (without preheating). It should take about 1 hour to cook. Ideally, you should poke the eggplant with a fork every now and then to check if it’s cooked. Serve with rice or fries. Or you can add thin potato slices to the casserole dish, but you’ll need more sauce.