Spicy Stuffed Eggplant

Our friend Joyce is here from the States
Last night she made this eggplant dish or dinner last night
It was very yummy and for those who are interested, it is gluten free
Eggplants are cheap at the moment and it is always good to have yet another way to cook them.

By the way, here's another use for cooked rice
Of course if you don't have leftovers, just cook the rice anyway
The Sriracha Sauce, which is possibly foreign to many, was recommended by Kalyn Denny of Kalyn's Kitchen Thank you Kalyn.
Click here to get some inspiration. It is a great blog.
Anyway it is an excellent hot sauce.
I assumed that you can't buy it here, so I asked Joyce, to bring me some from the States.
The day she arrived, we took a trip to the local Chinese green grocer .
Joyce was poking around the store and guess what she found... a bottle of the Sriracha sauce.
So you can buy it here in New Zealand . Hooray.
But I digress
So here you go.
This is enough for 4 people
1 eggplant per person
Olive oil

1 red Onion finely chopped
1 tbs Olive oil
500 gms mince
2 stalk Celery finely sliced
1/2 can crushed tomatoes
1 Tsp Oregano
1 Tsp ground Cumin
8 leaves Fresh basil sliced
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Parmesan cheese. grated to cover


50 gms feta cheese crumbled
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp Sriracha Hot Chili sauce (or any hot sauce that takes your fancy)


1/2 cup cooked white rice

Heat oven to 180C
Cut eggplant in half lengthwise
Lightly Oil
Place on a baking sheet and bake till just tender
Remove and then when cool enough to handle, scrape out the flesh
Reserve the shells for stuffing
Mix the flesh with feta and the Sriracha hot sauce
Season to taste and set aside

For the mince
Sauté the onion in olive oil in a medium hot pan
Add mince and sauté till brown
Add celery
Season with S&P
Add oregano, cumin and basil
Add crushed tomatoes and cook for 5-10 minutes

Time to assemble
Lay the empty eggplant shells on a lightly greased tray
Mix all the components together
The mince
The eggplant mix
And the rice

Pile into the shells
Cover with grated Parmesan
And bake for about 15-20 minutes
I only thought to take the picture, when I was halfway through my dinner.
That plate was clean as, not long after.

Delicious