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5.0 from 12 votes

Stuffed Eggplant

This vegan stuffed eggplant recipe is easy-t0-make and delicious for fall and winter. Stuffed with lentils and barley, it's filling, and flavorful with the punch of homemade pesto.

Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
50 mins
Servings: 4
Cuisine: Mediterranean , Vegan

Ingredients

For the Pesto:
  • sundried tomato pesto
  • 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes
  • 3-4 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 fresh black pepper
  • 1 cup fresh basil
  • 1/2 cup Vegan Parmesan Cheese
For the stuffed eggplant:
  • 2 medium-sized eggplants halved
  • 1 cup cooked barley
  • 1 cup cooked black lentils
  • 2 tbsp. Califia Farms Plant Butter
  • 1 large small yellow onion finely chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves pressed
  • 1/2 cup artichokes
  • 1/4 cup carpers
  • 1 tsp vegetable stock paste
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 2 tbsp. sundried tomato pesto
  • Juice of half a lemon

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Preheat the oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Half the 2 eggplants and place then cut side down on the parchment paper.  Using a fork, pierce many holes into the eggplant.  Cook for around 30 minutes.
  3. While the eggplant cooks, prepare the lentil and barley by cooking as instructed on the package.  Strain once cooked and set aside.
  4. Into a medium-sized pot, plant butter on medium-low heat for 30 seconds before adding in the finely chopped yellow onion.  Cook for around 5 minutes or until fragrant.  After 5 minutes of cooking, add in the garlic, stirring to mix. After about 3 minutes, throw in the artichokes, capers, vegetable stock paste, bay leaves, pepper, sundried tomatoes and lemon.  Cook for around 5 minutes before adding in the cooked lentils and barley. Simmer for 10 minutes on low heat.
  5. Remove the eggplant from the oven.  Flip them skin-side down and lightly score the eggplant in diagonal cuts. This will make room for the beautiful stuffing you've just made.  You may also need to handle gently and remove a bit of the eggplant center with a spoon.  Simply add those insides to the legume mixture.
  6. Using a spoon, stuff eggplant till full and bake for another 10 minutes or until golden and gorgeous.
  7. Serve with a fresh salad and gorgeous pieces of garlic bread.

Notes

  • If you do not have Barley or Lentils, you can use any other type of grains or legumes.  Chickpea, quinoa, rice, wheatberries - anything will do!
  • If you are not a fan of sundried tomatoes, simply use traditional pesto.  Simply remove the sundried tomatoes from the recipe and substitute for pine nuts or even walnuts!
  • This dish is inherently salty from the parmesan cheese, vegetable stock, capers and artichokes, so I recommend not adding any to this recipe at all.