Garlicy Stuffed Aubergine with Chicken, Rosemary, Tomatoes and Feta

Aubergine is by far one of my favourite vegetables, and the combining it with a chicken-tomatoey-garlicy-rosemary sauce is just delicious! 

This aubergine wasn't the average aubergine; this was a different variety: white with a few purple stripes in it which I had found at one of the local vegetable shops near my flat. I don't think it particularly makes any difference in the cooking of this dish (I have made this previously at home with the standard aubergine), only that the skin isn't a dark purple/black colour! These little guys look really impressive for a dinner party, and if desired/necessary, it can be made vegetarian very easily by simply leaving out the chicken or substituting it for quorn or tofu. It may look a lot more complicated than it actually is; it is in fact a very easy recipe, and is definitely worth that little bit of culinary effort!

Ingredients: (serves 1 as a main meal, 2 as a starter: double/triple/quadruple for more.....)

1 aubergine

Olive oil

2 cloves garlic

Rosemary leaves, about 1 tbsp

3 small tomatoes, chopped (see picture for reference of quantity)

2 chicken tenderloins, chopped into small pieces

1 tsp chilli flakes (optional)

30g Feta

Salad:

Mixed leaves (I used baby spinach and lettuce)

2 Tbsp bulgar wheat (pre-cooked)

Olive oil and lemon dressing (2:1 ratio respectively)

Directions:

Turn oven on to 180 degrees.

Get your aubergine and slice it down the middle. Use your knife to cut out the flesh of the aubergine of both halves. You can use your hands pulling out some of the flesh too. Set the fleshy middle to one side.

Place your aubergine 'shells' on a baking sheet. Very roughly slice your garlic cloves and scatter over the aubergine, drizzle with some olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and half of your rosemary leaves.

Put in the oven to cook. 

Meanwhile, take the flesh of the aubergine and chop into small pieces. In a small frying pan, add a bit of olive oil with your chicken and begin to fry off on a medium heat. The chicken pieces should be chopped quite small, so they shouldn't take too long to cook through and brown-maybe about 5-7 minutes; once cooked, add in your chopped aubergine flesh. Stir fry again for another 2 minutes.

Add your chopped tomatoes, the rest of your rosemary and chilli flakes. Turn the heat down to a medium heat, and stir until the aubergine is cooked through, and your tomatoes are soft. It should turn a little bit saucy as your tomatoes soften.

By now, your aubergine 'shells' should have cooked through and crisped up. 

Take them out of the oven, put any garlic that wasn't in the shells, inside. Begin to spoon in your tomatoey-chicken filling. 

Crumble over your feta, and put back in the oven to crisp up. This should take another 5-10 minutes...

Serve both halves immediately. 

I had mine with a mixed leaf salad, which I tossed in a little bit of lemon juice and olive oil, and 2 tbsp of bulgar wheat which I had pre-cooked in the fridge. This is only a suggestion! If a bit more hungry, you could serve this with some wholewheat pasta and some truffel oil (the flavours go very well!)- this is my dad's favourite!! Enjoy guys!