Baked Eggplant Stuffed with Italian Tomato Salsa

🧂 Ingredients

• 1 large eggplant

  washed and dried
• Sea salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 medium tomatoes
• 1 garlic clove

  finely chopped or grated
• 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• Cracked black pepper

Instructions

• 1 Preheat the oven to 200 C / 400 F. Place the whole eggplant on an oven tray
  lined with some baking paper or foil. Place in the oven, middle shelf, for 30
  minutes. This will bake/steam the eggplant from the inside.
• 2 After 30 minutes, take the eggplant out and cool it slightly. Carefully cut it
  in half going lengthways. It should be soft and steamy on the inside.
• 3 Turn the heat down to 180 C / 375 F. Drizzle each eggplant half with 1
  tablespoon of olive oil and roast in the oven, flesh facing up, for additional
  20-25 minutes or until crispy brown on top.
• 4 Cut the tomatoes into quarters, remove the seeds and dice into small cubes. Add
  to a bowl together with garlic and the thyme leaves (removed form the sprigs).
• 5 Remove the eggplant halves from the oven and let them cool down for about 5
  minutes. Carefully cut out some of the inside flesh of the eggplant, about half
  a centimetre away from the edges. Drizzle the eggplant boats with a little lemon
  juice and sprinkle with a pinch or two of sea salt.
• 6 Chop the removed eggplant flesh and add to the tomatoes, garlic and thyme. Add a
  good pinch of sea salt, pepper, lemon juice and olive oil and mix well. Scoop
  equal amounts of the salsa mixture and fill the eggplant boats. Garnish with a
  sprig of thyme and a drizzle of olive oil for extra shine.

Nutrition Info