Tender baked eggplant stuffed with creamy goat cheese, juicy tomato and basil.

So delicious! So fancy! These baked eggplants will make your head spin. They make a great appetizer or, if served on a slice of bread, a great lunch sandwich. The choice is yours. 🙂

When buying goat cheese for this recipe, try to find the soft variety because they are easily spreadable. However, if you cannot find the soft one, regular goat cheese will do the job too. I buy Chavrie Original Goat Cheese and I am very happy with it! It is sold at Walmart, Shoprite and some other supermarkets, so it shouldn’t be hard to find this cheese. (Note: I’m not an affiliate, I just really like their product). Moving on.

I’ve noticed over the years, that a lot of people sprinkle eggplant slices with a generous amount of salt before cooking them, and then let them sit and “sweat” for 30-45 minutes. After that, the eggplant slices are rinsed and patted dry with paper towels. This step is done to remove the bitterness from the eggplants. Frankly, I don’t do that for any of my recipes and I don’t find that eggplants are bitter at all. So, if are one of the “eggplant soakers” ( 🙂 ), you are more than welcome to add this step.

Of course, this recipe can be customized to your liking. Use flavored goat cheese instead of regular, roasted peppers instead of tomatoes, dill or parsley instead of the basil… You get the idea!

Although I usually serve these eggplants as an appetizer, feel free to add some mashed potatoes, quinoa, rice or other grain on the side to make a filling vegetarian meal. They also taste great on a slice of bread, as I mentioned above.

OK, now all that is left to do is for you to go cook these bad boys and leave me a comment on how you liked them.

XOXO

Print

EASY EGGPLANT WITH GOAT CHEESE AND BASIL

Tender baked eggplant stuffed with creamy goat cheese, juicy tomato and basil.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 12 pieces

Calories 83

Author Tania Sheff

Ingredients

• 2 medium eggplants
• 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 6 tbsp soft goat cheese
• 1 medium tomato (sliced)
• 12 basil leaves
• salt

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 450F.
• Peel the eggplants and slice them lengthwise into 1/3- inch thick pieces. Each eggplant should make about 6 slices.
• Using a silicone pastry brush or just your hands, brush the eggplant slices lightly with olive oil on both sides.
• Arrange the eggplant on a large baking tray and bake for about 20-25 minutes. (Depending on the size of your oven you may need to bake the eggplant in batches).
• Once the eggplant is baked, let it cool completely.
• Spread 1/2 tbsp of goat cheese onto half of the eggplant, just like you see in the photo below.
• Place 2 slices of tomato and 1 basil leaf on top of the goat cheese. Fold the eggplant in half. Garnish with basil leaves.

Notes

Nutrition

Calories: 83kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 89mg | Potassium: 25mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 0.4g | Vitamin A: 250IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 0.5mg

Before you go…

Check out these recipes 

EGGPLANT ROULADES WITH FETA

ZUCCHINI FRITTERS

POTATO GNOCCHI WITH MUSHROOMS