Egg-Stuffed Baked Tomato

One of my favorite things to make when fresh vegetables are getting cheaper in season is my good eggplant spread. It’s relatively easy to make and incredibly versatile: you can eat it on a toast, a bruschetta, use it as a dip with your favorite crackers or as a vegetable side for dinner.

My problem is that as I live alone now I end up with too much of it every time I make it: Even if it’s just for one eggplant, all the other vegetables add volume to it and I always end up with a whole pot of it. Most of the times, I either can it for the winter or share it with my vegetarian friends.

It happened this time again: I scored a pack of beautiful red and yellow bell peppers at Costco for like $5 and decided it was time to make my eggplant spread. After I made it, I shared it with my colleague and gave some to my neighbor, used it as vegetable base for an omelette and spread it on pita crackers and toasts.

And I still have some left. So today I decided to use it as a foundation for egg-stuffed baked tomatoes. This was really easy to make and turned out heavenly delicious.

I used the small individual-sized baking pot with a lid.

First I sprayed it with some olive oil, although later I realized that the eggplant spread would have provided enough oil, so that was an unnecessary step.

Second, I put enough of the eggplant spread to cover evenly the entire pot’s bottom.

Third, I took a medium-sized tomato (it’s important that it fits the pot with no effort) and cut off its bottom. I then cleaned out the inside to make a little pot out of the tomato. You can use the tomato contents for a salad or an omelette later. I was lazy so I just added it back to the dish by spreading it on top of the eggplant spread around the tomato. I wouldn’t do it again, though, as the spread became a little too runny.

Then I set the empty tomato into the pot center, making sure it sits deep to allow for the pot lid to close. I lined the tomato’s inside with a slice of Provolone cheese (you can use any cheese you like) and broke one egg right into it, carefully, not to break the yolk. Put some salt and white pepper on top of it to taste and covered the entire tomato with a slice of Colby Jack. Again, you can use any cheeses, sliced or shredded, in any combination. I find that different cheeses give the dish a more picante taste.

Then I covered the pot with the lid and set it into a 375F preheated oven for about 15 min. If you want the egg to be harder, add 5 more minutes.

It’s absolutely delicious. When it’s done, you can take the tomato out onto a separate plate and enjoy the spread at the bottom with a toast (sourdough is the best) or crackers. I ate it right out of the pot, nearly burning the top of my mouth and tongue with hot cheese.

Here’s my eggplant spread recipe. You will need:

1 eggplant, midsized when it comes to eggplants

1 large onion

2 medium to large carrots

Large bell peppers: 1 red, 1 yellow

2 large or 3 medium tomatoes

3 tablespoons of tomato paste (you can put more, depending on how you tolerate acidity)

Spices and herbs you like - you can be really creative in this part. I decided to use Aleppo pepper this time to spice it up, but I usually use paprika, black and white pepper and salt (skip it if you soak eggplant in salted water). I wouldn’t recommend garlic as it may overwhelm the eggplant taste. If you can’t live without garlic, use garlic salt.

1. Prep the eggplant. If you don’t like the color and texture of the eggplant skin, peel it. Then cube the eggplant. I love the skin texture but don’t like its bitterness, so I soak the cubed (about half an inch cubes) eggplant in salted water for about 20-30 min before cooking.

2. Chop the onion and peel and cut the carrots. I like to actually feel the taste of different vegetables in the spread, so I cut everything into larger size (quarter to half an inch) pieces.

3. Take a 5-6 Qt stock pot and cover its bottom with olive oil. Heat it up.

4. Put in the onions first, stirring often. Reduce heat to medium. Just when the onions start going soft (still white, don’t let them caramelize), add carrots. Mix well and let them sauté for 2-3 min together.

5. Meanwhile, clean out and chop the bell peppers. Add them to the pot, stirring well with onions and carrots.

6. Dice the tomatoes and add them to the pot. Mix the vegetables well.

7. Right after the tomatoes, add the tomato paste and all your desired spices. Sauté, stirring frequently, for 3-5 mins.

8. As the last step, add the eggplant (drained from the salted water if you used that step) and sauté for 10-12 mins more or until the eggplant cooks though and becomes soft).

It tastes better cold, so cool the spread before using it.

Enjoy!