A home-cook’s favorite

You’ll find these stuffed eggplant boats served in most restaurants of the town of the Bonifacio. But they’re also a home-cook’s favorite, as it is an amazingly delicious and simple recipe to make at home too.

The eggplants are boiled, the flesh is then scooped out, chopped and mixed with milk-soaked bread, eggs, fresh basil and cheese, and then stuffed back into the skin, before getting fried up on both sides, until brown and crisp. 

A great Summer recipe for your repertoire.

This is a great Summer eggplant recipe for your repertoire, with the perfect combination of cheese and basil.  As per tradition, you can enjoy it cold as a appetizer or warm for a main course, served with tomato sauce. And although this recipe is meatless, these stuffed eggplants make for a solid dish that’s both nutritious and satisfying.

Cooking notes: 

• The cheese traditionally used in the stuffing would be Tomme de Corse or Brocciu Passu– popular sheep’s milk cheeses from Corsica. But in my little kitchen in Canada, I often use grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano as substitutes, which both work perfectly.

Bonifacio Stuffed Eggplant Boats

Print Recipe

Serves: 4 Prep Time: 30 minutes Cooking Time: 13 minutes 13 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 4.1/5

( 12 voted )

Ingredients

3-4 slices (150g) of stale Pain de Mie (or any white stale bread)
1 cup (250ml) milk (2% or while) 
4 medium-size eggplants
1 large egg
2 cups (200g) grated cheese, such as grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
6-7 basil leaves, chopped (+ a few more leaves for serving) 
1 tsp Herbes de Provence
Salt, pepper to taste
3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil, for frying
Optional, for serving: warm tomato sauce

Instructions

Soak the Pain de Mie in the milk for 10 minutes.

Bring a large pot of water to a simmer. Plunge the whole eggplants for 10 minutes. Drain and place on a tea towel to cool.

When cool enough to handle, cut the eggplants in half and carefully scoop out the flesh (be careful not to cut into the skin), using a serrated spoon or sharp knife. Lay each eggplant half onto a paper towel (cut side down), for the excess water to be absorbed.

Chop the eggplant flesh into small pieces, and combine with the pain de mie (drained), 1 egg, grated cheese, chopped garlic clove, chopped basil leaves and dried Herbes de Provence. Knead the mixture with your hands to obtain a dense filling.

Fill each eggplant “boat” evenly (they should be well packed) and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Heat up the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. In several batches, fry the eggplants (stuffed side down) for 7 minutes. Do not move the eggplants around, or the stuffing will crumble/fall apart. Flip the boats carefully, and fry (skin side down) for 4 minutes, until brown and crispy. 

Season with salt and serve immediately - on its own and with warm tomato sauce at the bottom. 

If you try this Bonifacio Stuffed Eggplant Boats recipe, let me know! Leave a comment or share a photo using #pardonyourfrench on Instagram.

Bon Appétit!

A recipe inspired by Stefan Gourmet and La Cuisine d’Agnes

You may also like: 

• Eggplant Caviar Dip 

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