Stuffed Eggplant with Fresh Tomato Sauce

Method:

Preheat oven to 220 degrees Celsius.

Cook rice in boiling water until cooked. Drain and set aside.

Prick the eggplants and place on a lightly greased baking tray. Bake for 15 minutes until softened. Allow to cool before cutting lengthways and scooping out the flesh, leaving about half a centimetre attached to the skin. Chop the scooped out eggplant and return shells to baking tray, then set aside.

Heat oil in fry pan and gently sauté celery for 10 minutes. Add carrot and chopped eggplant and sauté for a further five minutes. Remove from heat and stir in rice, parsley, basil, pine nuts, ground almonds, vegetable bouillon and water. Retain some parsley and pine nuts for decoration.

Place rice mixture in the eggplant shells. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Garnish with parsley and pine nuts and serve with fresh tomato sauce.

To make the sauce, blanch whole tomatoes for 60 seconds in rapidly boiling water, before removing and plunging into cold water for five seconds. Drain, cool, then remove skins and chop.

Heat the oil and gently sauté onion for 10 minutes, making sure not to brown. Add garlic and sauté for a further minute before adding tomatoes and gently bring to boil. Reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes with the lid on, stirring occasionally. In a blender, add the fresh basil, blend sauce then add soy sauce. Reheat and serve.

Ingredients:

• 1 C basmati rice
• 6 medium eggplants
• 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
• 115g celery, chopped small
• 225g carrot, grated
• 30g fresh parsley, chopped
• 30g fresh basil, chopped
• 115g pine nuts, toasted
• 55g ground almonds
• 2 tsp vegetable bouillon
• 280 ml water

Fresh tomato sauce:

• 450g fresh whole tomatoes
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped finely
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• small bunch of fresh basil
• Splash of soy sauce