Tarragon Stuffed Eggplant

My wife has been bugging me to make stuffed eggplant for a while now... it was a staple of our menu a couple of years ago, but for some reason, I had forgotten about it.

I've made a few changes from the old version... I used to use soy sauce (probably out of a lack of imagination more than anything else), but for this version, I substituted tarragon vinegar and added fresh chopped sage.

The old version also involved stir-frying the filling before stuffing and baking the eggplants. I dunno - maybe I was afraid of getting Mad Mushroom Disease. Anyway, I skipped this step, and it greatly improved the dish.

Enough blathering...


Tarragon Stuffed Eggplant

1 large eggplant (aubergine), cut in half lengthwise
2 baby portabella or 2 large white button mushrooms, chopped
1/3 cup orange bell pepper, chopped
1 large roma tomato, chopped
2 tbsp fresh chopped sage
1/3 cup tarragon vinegar
2 oz vegan mozzarella"cheese"
1/2 tsp dried parsley

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Scoop out flesh from eggplant halves, chop coarsely and place in a large bowl. Mix mushrooms, orange bell pepper, tomatoes, and sage with the chopped eggplant. Add tarragon vinegar and mix well.

Stuff eggplant shells with vegetable and mushroom mixture. Place stuffed eggplant sells on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle dried parsley over top and serve.
Sprinkle vegan "cheese" on top and bake for an additional 5 minutes.