Bacon & Goat Cheese Stuffed Eggplant




A break from shrimp! This creation was modified from a recipe out of the Today's Kitchen cookbook. I got this cookbook for Michael a while back and we'd never gotten around to cooking anything from it. The book features recipes from various chefs who've been on the show. This particular one was by Nigella Lawson - a British cook (had to google that one :). We made a few changes - like using goat cheese instead of feta and adding some crumbled bacon. Of course, if you're a veggie, just omit the bacon (or if you want to save some time). The stuffing is actually very delicious alone - you could probably use it in several other recipes (or even as a salad topper). It's so rich that one eggplant is probably enough to serve 4 as an appetizer. You will likely have extra cheese filling - do with it as you'd like! If you don't have a grill pan, you can use a regular grill or stovetop griddle.

Ingredients

  • 6 strips bacon
  • 1 large eggplant, cut thinly, lengthwise
  • 2 tsp. olive oil
  • 4 oz. goat cheese
  • 1 red chile, finely chopped
  • 1 jalapeno, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup fresh mint, finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp. lemon juice
  • 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Directions

  1. Cook bacon according to directions. Let cool on paper towels. Crumble once cool & set aside.
  2. Heat grill-pan over high heat.
  3. Brush both sides of eggplant w. oil. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side, until golden and tender.
  4. Combine bacon crumbles, cheese, chile, jalapeno, mint, lemon juice, and pepper in a small bowl.
  5. Divide cheese stuffing among eggplant slices and roll up. Hold in-place with a toothpick. Garnish with extra mint leaves, if desired.

26 comments:

Erica said...

Gorgeous! I would order this in a restaurant for sure! Let me know when you two finally get yours open- I will def be taking the trip up for it :)

Mary Bergfeld said...

We speak the same language. Take me to your leader :-). This is one of those OMG recipes. I love the ingredients you've used here. I'll bet this was fantastic.

Chef E said...

I love the tostada and this...both making me hungry, and we already ate a late lunch!

♥peachkins♥ said...

I love anything with bacon and the eggplant would only enhance the flavor!

Anonymous said...

This is stunning, absolutely breath-taking. Anything with bacon and goat cheese is amazing, but stuffed in eggplant like that? holy moly!

Dewi said...

Oh my, your stuffed eggplant is so elegant. I am sure it tastes delicious too.

Bren said...

i love this so much and have honestly never thought of using eggplant this way! nice to have found ur blog!

Culinary Wannabe said...

Looks awesome! I love Nigella - she's just so real and comes up with many simple yet elegant meals.

grace said...

that's one heck of a gorgeous plate of food. i have no doubt that the filling could satisfy on its own, but the eggplant makes a lovely (and tasty) wrapper. excellent work.

Cookin' Canuck said...

What a beautiful dish! The bacon is a must.

Olga said...

Any recipe that starts with bacon has to be good! I love eggplant: grew up eating quite a few dishes with it.

Looks great!

Kerstin said...

Oh wow, what a gorgeous dish and cool way to use eggplant! I love all the ingredients in this dish, it looks so delicious!

Admin said...

Fresh tangy goat cheese filling wrapped in creamy eggplant - you got great flavor and texture combinations going on here. I like this.

Sara said...

Looks amazing! I really like that you rolled up the stuffing in the slices, it makes for a better stuffing to eggplant ratio :)

figtreeapps said...

These look great. I made something similar a few weeks back..so many different ways to use eggplant..Thanks for sharing. Figtreeapps

The Duo Dishes said...

More more more. When we saw bacon, we knew we had to have it.

katrina said...

What beautiful rolls! I'm so glad you substituted goat cheese for feta because I like it so much better. This is a must-make!

Juliana said...

This is really nice...love eggplant and love the idea of bacon and cheese...sounds and looks delicious, very tasty...yummie! Great pictures!

Donna-FFW said...

Love the filling in theseeggplants. This is a great take on rollantini, delicious!

Dee said...

Wow! This does look beautiful & delicious. Impressive presentation & perfect blend of flavors. I've been yearning for some delightful way to use up some of those garden fresh eggplant this Summer. I'll end the quest & give this one a try asap!

lisaiscooking said...

Looks delicious! I'm about to post an eggplant-goat cheese dish too!

Rose said...

Nicely done! This looks AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

That does look Amazing! Based on the ingredients, it sounds delicious. Since I'm such a fan of both feta and goat cheese, either one would appeal to me.

Sasha said...

Oh great minds think alike! I've been wanting to make this for so long but haven't gotten around to it : /

This looks great! And your pictures are awesome.

test it comm said...

Those look good and with the goat cheese and bacon I bet they were!

liz {zested} said...

I've seen plenty of grilled eggplant recipes, but never with bacon. How could you go wrong!

Post a Comment

previous next previous