Recipe: Stuffed Capsicums / Eggplants + Pesto-Roasted Mushrooms

Our home-chef blogger Gabby Trifiletti has worked with the inherent attributes of these three humble vegies, regarding them with the love + attention they so rightfully deserve and together as a flavour-focussed team they've manifested a sensational show stopper. This recipe will inject a much appreciated vibrancy into your seasonal spread with the colours and textures humming at a higher frequency. Go forth and stuff those vegetables!!!
This dish is one of four that features as part of our SUMMER 2024 RECIPES. Be sure to check out the complementary dishes that make up the rest of the feast:

• Grainy Summer Salad
• Baked Ricotta with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes + Zucchini
• Peach + Pecan Gingerbread

"These roasted and stuffed veggies are the stars of summer! We've made a stuffing for the capsicums and eggplants, and just gave the roasted mushroom caps a very generous slather of organic green pesto.  But you could also spread pesto inside the caps and eggplants, too, before you stuff them. Your call.

- Gabby xxx"

STUFFED CAPSICUMS/EGGPLANTS + PESTO-ROASTED MUSHROOMS

Serves: 4 as a main course, 6-8 as a starter or as part of a buffet

Preparation + cooking time: Allow 1 ¼ hours 

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Ingredients (vegetables):

• 4 capsicums, sliced in half, stem and white pith removed (we used 2 red, 2 yellow)
• 4 eggplants, sliced in half (keep stem attached.)
• 6 large-ish mushrooms, stems removed and chopped finely (set aside stems for stuffing.)
• 4 tblspns green pesto (we used the delicious Eskal Deli vegan basil pesto, 350g jar from our fridge section)
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

 Ingredients (stuffing):

• 1 cup raw rice, cooked.
• ½ purple onion, chopped finely
• 4 spring onions, chopped
• ¼ cup toasted pecans, chopped
• Handful of fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 + 1/2 cups Parmigiano Reggiano, or other tasty cheese grated
• 1 egg, beaten

Method:

1. Set oven to 180 degrees Celsius, 160 fan.
2. Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
3. Place halved capsicums and eggplants, and mushrooms, on tray, cut side up. They can be quite closely packed because they’ll shrink during cooking.
4. Score the eggplants diagonally in both directions to make a criss-cross pattern, just on the surface, don’t go all the way through. Just helps them to cook through, and makes removal of the cooked flesh easier at the next step.
5. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.
6. Cook for about 15 -  20  minutes – or until capsicums are beginning to become browned and soften (but are not floppy – they’ll cook a bit longer after we stuff them); and eggplant skins are browning and flesh has cooked.
7. Scoop out the eggplant flesh, leaving enough so that the ‘wall’ of the eggplant is thick enough to still hold the stuffing and not collapse. (Don’t worry if they do collapse – it will all still taste delicious, it may just look a little deconstructed.)
8. Set aside to cool down.
   
   
   
   
9. Next, prepare the stuffing. In a large bowl, combine all of the stuffing ingredients, including 1 cup of the cheese,  leaving ½ cup aside to sprinkle on top. Add in the cooked eggplant flesh you set aside. Mixture should feel moist enough to stick together if you ‘pinch’ a bit between your fingers,  but not sloppy. If it’s a bit dry, you can add a bit of water or another egg.
   
   
   
10. Spoon stuffing mixture evenly between the roasted capsicums and the eggplant ‘shells’. Push down gently with the back of a spoon – or your hand, which you’ve dipped in water – to make sure mixture is firmly in the shells. For the mushrooms – just gently spread about 1-2 tablespoons of pesto over each one – it’s the ‘gills side’ you are spreading on.
    
    
11. Sprinkle extra cheese over all the vegetables, and an extra drizzle of olive oil over the lot.
    
    
    
12. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the stuffing has cooked and cheese has melted.
    
    
    
    
    
    
13. Serve warm or cool on a platter or board, with fresh herbs sprinkled over and a(nother) drizzle of olive oil .
    
    
    
    
    
    

    You may also want to revisit some of our summer recipes from the archives:
    
    Summer 2023 recipes - Aunty Ida’s Pavlova, Torta Caprese, Caponata, Smoked Trout Dip

    Summer 2022 - Last Minute Xmas Cake

    Photography by Emma Byrnes