Thick, meaty Bolognese sauce makes these stuffed eggplant boats hearty and satisfying - without being heavy or weighing you down. Easy enough for weeknights; fancy enough for company.
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What's the Story on this Recipe
Our first batch of Bolognese eggplant boats happened one summer night when I completely abandoned the intended dinner plan and started throwing things together, including a couple of small eggplants I needed to use. Later, as everyone raved about them, I knew we had a winner.
There was a time when the recipe would been lost before it was written down. In the last few years, though, Mr B and I have learned we always need to be mindful of what and how much, because every once and awhile, one of our casual culinary experiments turns into something amazing - like this one!
How We Lightened Traditional Stuffed Eggplant
These stuffed eggplant boats rich, hearty, and bursting with satisfying umami goodness. They are also surprisingly light and healthy. We found that you can lightened up traditional stuffed eggplant by making some simple, painless trades.
- Use chicken sausage instead of pork (although you can totally use pork for this recipe if you want).
- Incorporate the extra eggplant into the filling.
- Leave off the traditional heavy blanket of cheese in favor of a lighter dusting.
Stuffed eggplant makes an easy weeknight meal, and the leftovers are delicious for lunch the next day.
What Goes into this Recipe
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
★ Eggplant: For this recipe, we recommend using American or Italian globe eggplants, also known as aubergines (i.e., the meaty, purple kind). Look for eggplants smaller in size, as they work better for making and baking the vegetable boats.
★ Onion: For the most robust flavor, we recommend using yellow onions.
★ Italian sausage: We most often use mild Italian chicken sausage.
★ Bread crumbs: Use seasoned Italian bread crumbs, plain bread crumbs, or Panko crumbs.
If you use plain bread crumbs, add an additional half-teaspoon each basil and oregano.
★ Romano cheese: Parmesan, Asiago, or a blend of any of the three will also work.
★ Balsamic glaze: You can make your own using our quick and simple recipe, or use a premade balsamic glaze. (We love Nonna Pia's Balsamic Glaze!)
★ Salt: If you use regular table salt in place of Kosher salt, it will dramatically reduce the amount of salt you need.
The amount of salt also depends on whether you use fresh bread crumbs or dried, and the amount of seasonings in the Italian sausage you use. In each case, reduce the amount of salt you use by ½ teaspoon (or more), depending on your personal tastes.
How to Make Easy Stuffed Eggplant
Hollow Eggplants
Slice each eggplant in half, lengthwise from stem to blossom end. Using a spoon, hollow out eggplants, leaving about a ½-inch thick border around skin.
Line a heavy baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Transfer eggplant boats to the lined baking sheet.
Reserve the scooped-out eggplant for use in the filling.
Roughly chop the eggplant pieces reserved from the hollowing out process. Set aside.
Make Filling
Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high. Add chopped onions to the hot oil.
Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent and just beginning to brown; about 5-7 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium.
Add minced garlic, chopped mushrooms, and chopped eggplant. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt.
Cook, stirring frequently, until the eggplant and mushrooms have released their juices and are almost fully cooked; about 5 minutes.
Push eggplant mixture to the sides of skillet and add the mild Italian sausage in the center. Cook sausage, breaking up as you go, until it is fully cooked; about 5 minutes.
Stir the cooked sausage and eggplant mixture together.
Reduce heat to medium-low. Add dried basil and oregano, pepper, diced tomatoes, brown sugar (optional), and hot sauce (optional).
Bring the mixture to a simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until no watery liquid remains in the pan when you pull the mixture away.
Remove the skillet from heat. Taste the mixture and adjust seasoning to taste.
To the mixture in skillet, add ½ cup bread crumbs and 2 ounces of grated or shredded cheese.
Give everything one good stir to thoroughly combine.
Fill & Bake Eggplant Boats
Preheat oven to 350°F | 180°C.
Using a large spoon, evenly divide the filling between the eggplant halves.
Bake uncovered for 40 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Serve
Top with a generous sprinkling of cheese. Garnish with basil or arugula ribbons.
FAQs & Expert Tips
Serving Suggestions
For a real flavor boost, drizzle on a little balsamic glaze on the eggplants right before serving!
We love to serve stuffed eggplant with a simple arugula and tomato salad. Our poppy seed dressing pairs very nicely!
Make Stuffed Eggplant Ahead of Time
You can prepare the filling well up to 2 days ahead of time, and stuffed and bake the eggplant boats when you want to serve them.
You can also completely prepare and bake them up to 24-hours ahead of time, and reheated them in the oven when you want to serve them.
To reheat Stuffed Eggplant Boats straight from the fridge, place eggplant halves on a baking tray into a cold oven. Turn the oven on to to 350°F | 180°C. Bake eggplants for 30 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F | 75°C.
You can easily make vegetarian eggplant boats by substituting a plant-based alternative to the Italian sausage in the bolognese sauce.
More Eggplant Recipes
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Bolognese Stuffed Eggplant Boats
Equipment
- 1 Silpat Mat or parchment paper
Ingredients
- 3 small eggplants aubergines; 1½ - 2 pounds total
- 1 large onion chopped; ~8 oz.
- ½ pound mushrooms chopped
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound mild Italian sausage chicken, turkey, or pork sausage
- 1 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 1½ teaspoon dried basil
- 1½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1-2 teaspoons hot sauce optional
- 2 cups finely diced tomatoes 1 regular can
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar optional
- ½ cup dried Italian bread crumb or ¾ cup fresh bread crumbs
- ½ cup grated or shredded Parmesan or Asiago, Romano; plus more for garnish
- baby arugula optional
Instructions
Hollow Eggplants
- Slice each eggplant in half, lengthwise from stem to blossom end. Using a spoon, hollow out eggplants, leaving about a ½-inch thick border around skin.
- Line a heavy baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Transfer eggplant boats to the lined baking sheet.
- Roughly chop the scooped out eggplant pieces and set aside.
Make Filling
- Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high. Add chopped onions to the hot oil.Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent and just beginning to brown; about 5-7 minutes.
- Reduce heat to medium.Add minced garlic, chopped mushrooms, and chopped eggplant. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt.Cook, stirring frequently, until the eggplant and mushrooms have released their juices and are almost fully cooked; about 5 minutes.
- Push eggplant mixture to the sides of skillet and add the mild Italian sausage in the center. Cook sausage, breaking up as you go, until it is fully cooked; about 5 minutes.Stir the cooked sausage and eggplant mixture together.
- Reduce heat to medium-low. Add dried basil and oregano, pepper, diced tomatoes, brown sugar (optional), and hot sauce (optional).
- Bring the mixture to a simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until no watery liquid remains in the pan when you pull the mixture away.Remove the skillet from heat. Taste the mixture and adjust seasoning to taste.
- To the mixture in skillet, add ½ cup bread crumbs and 2 ounces of grated or shredded cheese.Give everything one good stir to thoroughly combine.
Fill & Bake Eggplant Boats
- Preheat oven to 350°F | 180°C.Using a large spoon, evenly divide the filling between the eggplant halves.
- Bake uncovered for 40 minutes.Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Serve
- Top with a generous sprinkling of cheese. Garnish with basil or arugula ribbons.
Notes
For a real flavor boost, drizzle on a little balsamic glaze on the eggplants right before serving! We love to serve stuffed eggplant with a simple arugula and tomato salad. Poppy seed dressing pairs very nicely!
You can easily make vegetarian eggplant boats by substituting a plant-based alternative to the Italian sausage in the bolognese sauce.
Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.
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Martha says
I made this exactly as directed and it’s way too salty! I would do 1 tsp not 2, and it would’ve been perfect and delicious!
Renée ♥ says
Thank you for the valuable feedback, Martha. I updated the amount of salt in the recipe to 1 -2 teaspoons, and added this note:
"SALT: If you use regular table salt in place of Kosher salt, it will dramatically reduce the amount of salt you need. The amount of salt also depends on whether you use fresh bread crumbs or dried, and the amount of seasonings in the Italian sausage you use. In each case, reduce the amount of salt you use by 1/2 teaspoon (or more), depending on your personal tastes."
Hope you enjoy them more next time you make them! ?
Cindy Ingalls says
Any recipe with eggplant always peaks my interests. It's one of my favorites. I like the idea of stuffing it full of bolognese for that rich flavor.
Mary says
My goodness this looks so comforting and delicious! Love the tip about the voice recorder app too. Need to try that myself.
Catherine Brown says
These are beautiful! I've never stuffed eggplant before.... totally looking forward to trying this out!