Recipe: Stuffed eggplant and paprika

Today we will be making a delicious meal which can be made both vegetarian or not. For this dish I didn't follow any recipe so the measurements are based on my own preferences. You can choose to stuff your vegetables with whatever you want or if you want to keep is basic, stick with meat only. I wanted to feel a little bit more healthy, so I added some vegetables to the filling. I decided to make the eggplants vegetarian for me and my mom and filled the paprikas with real meat for the rest of the family.

So what do we need:

- 200 grams of vegetarian minced meat 
- 200 grams of minced meat
- 2 eggplants
- 2 paprika's
- 1/2 zucchini
- 1380 grams of tomato sauce 
- 2 packs of Basmati rice
- 250 grams of mushrooms 
- 50 grams of grated mozzarella (or more 😉)
- 2 teaspoons of garlic powder 
- olive oil
- pepper
- salt 

Now for the recipe itself :

1. Pre-heat the oven to 220°C

2. Slice the eggplants in half and scoop/ cut out the middle but don't throw it away

=> I tried to stay 1cm away from the edges

=> I heard that when you poke some holes into the eggplant with a fork, before slicing it, and then put it in the microwave for a couple minutes, the inside will come out very easily. I didn't try this out but I suppose it works.

3. Cut the tops of from the paprikas and remove the heart

4. Cut the inside of the eggplant into tiny pieces

5. Slice the mushrooms into tiny pieces as well

6. Do the same with the zucchini

7. Cook the vegetables in some olive oil

8. Add the garlic powder and some pepper and salt

9. When they have shrunken and turned a bit brown, put them aside

10. Cook the meat (both) until it turns brown/ crispy

11. In the meanwhile start to boil your rice as instructed on the package

12. Split the vegetables over both pans of meat

13. Split one bottle of tomato sauce over both pans

14. Add the rice and mix it all together

15. Grease 2 oven pan with some olive oil or butter

16. Place the eggplants and paprikas in the oven pans

17. Fill the vegetables with your stuffing

18. Put the tops back on the paprika

19. Split the other bottle of tomato sauce over both oven pans to cover up the bottom

20. Sprinkle the grated mozzarella on top of the filled vegetables

21. Put them in the oven for about 30 minutes

And TADA! you're finished. This dish is easy to make and tastes delicious too and if you believe in it hard enough, it even is a bit healthy as it contains several vegetables 😜. If you still have some stuffing left, done throw it away, it makes a great dish on its own too.

Let me know when you recreate this meal by tagging me in your pictures @Lapetitebelgefoodblog or with the hashtag #Lapetitebelgefoodblog.

A bientôt!

Bisous