Stuffed Italian Eggplant Boats

eggplant boats in a white baking dish with a fork.

5 from 3 votes

This Stuffed Eggplant is an easy delicious summer recipe. Eggplants are filled with tomato, cheese, and prosciutto filling and baked for a light main dish or side dish.

Prep Time30

Cook Time20

Total Time50

Course: Main Dish, Side Dish

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: servings

Calories: 366kcal

Author: Rosemary Molloy

Ingredients

2 medium eggplants
3 tablespoons olive oil (divided)
1-2 pinches salt
1 medium tomato (firm but ripe) chopped and seeded
1 cup + 2 tablespoons firm mozzarella (or provolone, gruyere or fontina) shredded (divided) (112.5 total grams)
4 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese (divided)
3½ ounces prosciutto crudo cubed
1-2 cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon oregano
1-2 dashes pepper
5-6 fresh basil leaves

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350F (180C). Drizzle a large baking dish with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
Cut the rinsed and dried eggplant in half lengthwise, remove most of the pulp, leaving ¼ inch surrounding the skin. Chop half the pulp (without seeds) to make 1 cup (80 grams) set aside. Place the hollowed out eggplant in the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes or until tender. Remove and let cool to warm.
While the eggplant is cooling, in a large bowl mix together the eggplant pulp, the chop seeded tomato, 1 cup shredded cheese, 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, cubed prosciutto, garlic, oregano, pepper and chopped basil leaves.
Fill the cooled eggplant with the mixture, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle 2 eggplants with 2 tablespoon of shredded cheese and the other 2 with 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese, bake until melted about 2 minutes. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Notes

Recipe Tips

If you want to make vegetarian stuffed eggplant, just omit the prosciutto or substitute the same amount of cooked mushrooms.

If you can’t find cubed prosciutto, you can use pancetta or even cooked and crumbled bacon. Or, if you have leftover cooked ground sausage, you could add that.

Do you eat the skin of stuffed eggplant?

Yes, you can eat the skin and it’s very nutritious!

Do you need to soak eggplant before stuffing and cooking them?

No, for this stuffed eggplant recipe you don’t need to soak them first.

How to store the eggplant boats

Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge it will keep for up to 3-4 days. Reheat in a low oven or microwave. You can also freeze the baked and completely cooled stuffed eggplant. Freeze in a freezer safe container, they will keep for up to a month in the freezer. Thaw then re-heat in a low oven or microwave.

Nutrition