Phenomenal Stuffed Eggplant

Serves 4

Always use: Organic, Range fed, WHOLE foods, CLEAN, and all natural ingredients.

Vegetarians- Substitute chopped zucchini’s and quinoa

Paleo- disregard cheese

The Stuff you need;

• 2 medium eggplants
• 1 pound Italian sausage, ground
• 1 diced red onion
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 4 handfuls fresh spinach leaves (or 1 pkg chopped frozen, thawed and drained)
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1+1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 1⁄2 cup black olives, chopped
• 2 TBS Italian seasoning
• Salt, Pepper, spices to taste
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese
• Parmesan/Reggiano/Romano Italian cheese blend to taste

What to do with the Stuff:

• Preheat the oven to 350° F
• Cut the ends off of the eggplants and then slice in half lengthwise
• Scoop the eggplant meat from the eggplant halves, leaving empty shells, with a  bit of a border
• Dice and reserve the eggplant guts- salt lightly set aside
• Place empty eggplant shells in a 13×9 baking dish
• Saute Italian sausage, onion, and garlic in a large skillet over medium-high heat until browned, add spinach, and wine-cook 5 min
• Add the reserved eggplant innards, bell pepper and mushrooms to skillet, simmer an additional 10-15 min until all soft and mixed
• Drain all excess liquid
• Stir in tomato sauce, olives, and Italian seasonings, and simmer 5 minutes- season to taste
• Sprinkle some mozzarella cheese evenly over the inside of the eggplant shells
• Spoon in ample amount of cooked sausage mixture
• Top the stuffed eggplants with mozzarella & parmesan cheeses
• Bake 35 – 40 minutes
• Let cool 5 minutes before serving.