Basic Italian Eggplant Stew

M&A's's Note:

I made this as an alternative to higher calorie pasta dishes. This is easy to do in the oven or the crockpot. If done in the crockpot, expect the eggplant to become very soft and almost melt away into the stew. Please follow all the directions to prep the eggplant or this will not turn out well.

• Total Time: 2 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Serves: 4

Yield: 4.0

• 2 large eggplants
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 (28 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 8 ounces lean ground turkey
• 1 large onion , chopped
• 1 tablespoon italian seasoning
• black pepper

Directions:

1. Cube the eggplant and toss with lemon juice promptly to prevent browning. Toss cubes with salt and leave to rest in a strainer for 30 to 60 minutes.
2. While the cubes rest, brown the ground turkey and onions in a large deep pan. Add the tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, and pepper to the pot and simmer over low heat.
3. Rinse the cubes very well and press them firmly with paper towels to remove as much liquid as possible.
4. Combine eggplant with the sauce and cook for 20-30 minutes over medium-low heat. The longer you cook the stew, the softer the eggplant will become.
5. The mixture can also be baked in the oven at 375 degrees for 5-40 minutes or on low in the crockpot for 4 to 6 hours.

Reviews

[Jeffsmom]

This was my first time making an eggplant stew. I used 4 chinese eggplant (in an attempt to equal 2 globes). I let them rest for 30 minutes, with only 1 TBSP salt, and I squeezed the cubes by hand to extract as much liquid as possible. I think it could have used a 6 ounce can of tomato sauce as well (but for pasta, it would be just right). The amount of italian seasoning seemed a bit much, but it came out very well. Will definitely make again. Thanks for the posting!