Eggplant Boats (Vegan)

Learn how to make these delicious vegan style eggplant boats. Roasted eggplants with a spice infused tangy tomato, mushroom filling topped with cheese. This recipe is tasty and packed with flavour!

Course Appetiser

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 20

Total Time 50

Servings people

Calories 391kcal

Author Charla

Ingredients

2 large eggplants
2 medium tomatoes

To cook the mushrooms

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup mushrooms chopped

For the filling

2 tablespoon olive oil
½ small onion chopped
3 garlic cloves minced
1½ tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1½ teaspoon parsley
1½ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon chilli flakes
black pepper and pink salt to taste
vegan cheese for the topping

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180C/356F/gas mark 4.
Line and grease a baking tray with parchment paper.
Slice each eggplant in half, making sure to keep the tops intact.
Place the eggplants with the cut side facing up on a baking tray along with the tomatoes.
Lightly brush the tops of the eggplant and tomatoes with olive oil.
Roast the eggplant and tomatoes in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden and fork tender (the flesh of the eggplant should be soft and juicy).
Once roasted, place the tomatoes in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
Carefully scoop out the flesh from the eggplant and put it into the bowl with the tomatoes.
Heat a small non stick frying pan with 1 tablespoon of olive olive on medium heat.
Cook the mushrooms until they are soft (this will take a few minutes).
Once cooked, set them aside in a small separate bowl.
Replenish the frying pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
Saute the onion and garlic until soft and translucent.
Add the tomato paste, nutritional yeast, thyme, parsley, chilli flakes and stir for a few minutes.
Pour the onion-tomato mixture into the bowl with the scooped out eggplant/tomato.
Use a potato masher (or use a pestle and mortar if you have one) to crush the mixture into a smooth paste.
Add the mushrooms and stir them into the paste to combine.
Do a taste test and add black pepper and pink salt to taste.
Scoop the mixture into the eggplant shells.
Sprinkle to the vegan cheese over the top.
Place the oven and allow the cheese to melt (the time will vary depending on the cheese).
Remove from the oven, leave to slightly cool and serve.

Notes

Make sure to thoroughly wash the eggplants ahead of time.
Eggplant is also known as aubergine in the UK.
When purchasing the eggplants make sure to inspect them first, they should be quite firm, shiny in appearance and feel heavy.
Try to purchase eggplant that are large in size as large eggplants are likely to create a generous amount of filling.
Use your preferred vegan cheese, my favourite is Cathedral City this is a UK brand, it doesn't melt perfectly HOWEVER, it tastes just like regular cheese.
You can use any type of mushrooms to make this recipe, it doesn't matter as they will be chopped it into smaller pieces.
It is best to consume the boats immediately, I haven't tested if they hold up overnight and freezing them is a no no.
Feel free to add any extras to your filling i.e peppers, sweetcorn, beans, chickpeas, carrots etc...

Nutrition