Vegan stuffed aubergines

 

Vegan mince-stuffed aubergines topped with my vegan bean bechamel sauce and grilled vegan cheese.


Hola!

Today I bring you my plant-based version of a family recipe: stuffed aubergines topped with my bean bechamel sauce and vegan cheese, then grilled in the oven to melt the cheese and brown the top. Already salivating! The stuffing is made with textured soya, the aubergine flesh and more vegetables. It goes well with a colourful salad leaves side or if you want to treat yourself, a bread roll. Or both, like I did! Living life to the full.

There is a long history of stuffing vegetables and who knows where it all started. Researching for this post, I found out that stuffed aubergines recipes are typically from the Middle East, and their main component is minced meat. For what I read, it is a very similar recipe to what my family does.

This was an easy lunch to prepare for my mum, since in Spain lunch is the main meal of the day, in contrast to what the British do (dinner). She would make a whole batch to feed the family, but you could double this recipe and have food for a few days or even freeze them.

PLANT POWER, MAKE UP!

Apart from my vegan bean bechamel, the rest of the ingredients were easy to veganise, like vegan mince and grated vegan cheese for the top.

In order to enhance the umami flavour, I used tomato paste and white wine, both of which the family recipe don’t have. Cooking with wine takes things to the next level, so I thought, why not? I also added chopped walnuts to make a more interesting texture for the vegan minced meat. You could also use this trick when making vegan Bolognese or even use this recipe’s stuffing as a Bolognese for pasta adding some more tomato sauce.



VEGAN STUFFED AUBERGINES


Serves: 2 people
Prep: 30 min
Cook: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

2 aubergines
500g vegan mince
1 big onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tbsp. oregano
4 tbsp. tomato paste
1/2 tsp. brown sugar
1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup white wine

Grated vegan cheese

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Use a griddle pan to mark the whole aubergines on all sides to make them soft to help separating the skin. Let them cool slightly and halve them lengthwise. Make cuts on the flesh side making a grid, and scoop the flesh out with a spoon. Make sure that the skin you leave on is thick enough to hold the mixture later (3-5mm thick). Set the aubergine flesh aside and place the aubergine skins onto a lined oven tray.
  2. Cook the vegan mince as per pack instructions and prepare the bechamel sauce as per the link above.
  3. Fry the onion with salt and pepper for 5 minutes. When it starts to get translucent, add the chopped garlic and cook until fragrant (1-2 minutes). Add to the pan the aubergine flesh, mince, oregano, tomato paste, brown sugar, walnuts and wine. Stir to combine and cook for about 5 minutes or until the wine is reduced.
  4. Stuff the aubergine skins with the mixture and top with a layer of the bechamel sauce and the grated vegan cheese. Grill in a preheated oven at 180°C or air fryer until the cheese melts (5-10 minutes).
You can keep them in the fridge for about a week. They’re also suitable for freezing.

Bon profit!