Ingredients:
4 small eggplants, stem ends trimmed (small = about 6″ in length)
1 pound ground italian sausage
1 small onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbl tomato paste
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
3 Tbl chopped fresh basil
1 Cup shredded italian style cheese
1/4 Cup Parmesan cheese
Salt & Pepper
1 Tbl Olive oil
1/3 C Panko bread crumbs

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 475 degrees, adjusting your oven rack to the upper-middle position. Slice off the top third of each eggplant lengthwise and set aside. Scoop out the insides of each eggplant, leaving a 1/2-inch layer of flesh all the way around. Arrange the eggplants, cut side down, in a baking dish. cover with plastic wrap and microwave until eggplant is completely tender, 6 to 10 minutes (mine was 7 1/2 minutes), removing plastic halfway through. While the eggplant is in the microwave, chop up the remaining eggplant you had previously set aside. {Using all the chopped eggplant makes A LOT, so I would recommend only using 1/2 of it}

Cook the sausage until no longer pink. Add the onion and chopped eggplant and cook until soft…5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and tomato paste. Stir and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and cook until mixture is thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in basil and most of the cheeses.

Spoon the mixture into your eggplant shells. In a separate bowl, combine Panko, olive oil and remaining cheese. Top stuffed eggplants with panko/cheese mix. Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown and heated through.

Enjoy!

The verdict: I thought it was really, really good! By the end of it though I found myself eating just the guts and leaving about 1/4 of the eggplant itself. Andy? Well, he like the guts but was not a fan of the eggplant. He said the flavor was good, but it was a texture thing for him. So he literally just ate the stuffing part.

The original recipe was meant to be vegetarian and I’m sure it would be great by following the recipe as well.