Fran's Eggplant Cornbread Dressing

Submitted by rdsxc

"My mother got this recipe out of the newspaper in the '80's. It became a family favorite, beating out traditional cornbread stuffing at Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you just *have to have* traditional dressing, incorporate eggplant or squash into it to keep the stuffing from drying out. The eggplant provides moisture, but not much taste. This casserole is all about the cheese and cornbread!"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 30mins
• Ingredients: 6
• Yields: 6 cups of casserole
• Serves: 6-8

ingredients

• 1 eggplant, peeled, cubed, and cooked until soft
• 2 cups cornbread, cooked and crumbled to coarse crumbs
• 1⁄2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1⁄2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

directions

1. Grease a 2 quart casserole dish and set aside.
2. Microwave eggplant until soft. Perhaps 6 minutes. When done, mash to a pulp.
3. Fry the onion in a little butter until soft and translucent.
4. Crumble the cornbread into coarse crumbs.
5. Combine eggplant, onion, butter and cornbread.
6. Stir in the remaining ingredients and pour into a greased casserole dish. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes or until the casserole is "set:" in the middle. ("Set" means a knife inserted in the middle of the casserole comes out clean, but not so well done that the casserole is dry.).
7. This is a very forgiving recipe. Instead of measuring out 2 cups of cornbread crumbs, I usually just crumble up an 8x8 pan of fresh cornbread. You want the mixture to be wet enough to wet all the cornbread crumbs, but not so wet that it won't "set up." If it seems a little dry before baking, add just a little chicken broth or water.
8. I have also used yellow squash or zucchini in place of the eggplant. The prep time can be reduced by using frozen onions in place of fresh. Also, I am just really slow at prep!