georgian-style eggplant stuffed with carrot and parsnip

this recipe is from the country of georgia, which borders turkey, armenia, and russia.

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¼ cup olive oil
4 medium to large eggplants, halved
5 medium carrots, grated
1 parsnip, grated
1 large onion, chopped finely
1 green capsicum (pepper), chopped finely
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 bay leaves
½ cup water
¼ cup tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried thyme or a few sprigs fresh thyme
1 tablespoon sugar or agave nectar (i used less and it was good)
salt and black pepper to taste

sauce:
3 cups water
¾ cup tomato paste
2 teaspoons sugar or agave nectar
salt and pepper to taste
(i added a splash of apple cider vinegar to mine, and another sprig of fresh thyme from my garden.)

1. Preheat oven to 200˚C (approx. 390˚F).

2. With a spoon, scrape out the flesh of the eggplant halves, chop it roughly and set aside. Place the hollowed out eggplant halves in a greased baking dish, season them and drizzle with olive oil.

3. Place a fry pan over medium heat, pour in the olive oil, and cook the onion until soft and translucent. Add the eggplant flesh, garlic, grated carrots, parsnip and green capsicum and cook for a further 10 minutes (the vegetables will soften). Add the tomato paste, bay leaves, thyme, sugar and seasoning and cook for another 25-30 minutes.

4. Stuff the eggplants with the vegetable mixture evenly. Mix the tomato paste, sugar and seasoning with the water and pour into the baking dish. (At this point I usually drizzle a little more olive oil over the eggplants.)

5. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover the dish and bake for a further 30-45 minutes. The dish is ready when the eggplants have softened and the sauce has thickened (it should not be watery).

6. Let rest for 30 minutes before serving as the eggplants will absorb more moisture and the sauce will thicken a little. Or refrigerate when cool and eat cold the next day (the flavours will be even better).

Serve with plain yogurt.

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from here

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really good. eggplant with parsnip and carrot is better than i thought it would be. is it worth the hour and a half? well, it’s a special dish for your vegan or gluten-free friends, and it tastes really good, not quite like anything else i have ever tasted. maybe it’s best for special occasions, or a long sunday cooking at home.

it’s delicious, and i highly recommend you try this dish on some day you want to spend an hour and a half waiting for a healthy veggie meal.

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