Stuffed Aubergine or ‘Brungiel Mimli’ is a traditional Maltese food that resembles the Greek stuffed eggplant or ‘Melitzanes Papoutsakia’. It’s super easy to prepare and perfect for weeknight dinners when you’re not really in the mood for cooking.
This aubergine recipe usually calls for ground beef and a generous cheese topping. If you’re familiar with traditional Maltese food, you’ll quickly realize that the stuffing is quite similar to Qarabali Mimli. The literal translation for this is ‘Stuffed Zucchini’. Although both recipes call for mince beef as a filling, this healthy recipe uses mushroom mince (or roughly chopped mushrooms) and aubergine flesh.
There are a number of super tasty vegan recipes that you can make using eggplants or aubergines. We’re thinking Baba Ganoush and eggplant parmesan. Yet this Maltese recipe with a twist makes for a perfect quick and easy healthy dinner. And if you’re running out of healthy lunch ideas, you can always make a large batch, and freeze them! This stuffed aubergine recipe is also perfect for those who are on a diet.
Each serving (half an eggplant) only contains 128 calories. One stuffed aubergine half will also give you 3.7g of Fiber and 6.1g of protein, keeping you feeling full after you eat.
Maltese cuisine (and traditional Maltese foods in general) aren’t very vegan friendly. The majority of Maltese recipes use meat in one form or another. Traditional dishes feature foods such as Ghagin il-forn (baked pasta) and Ross il-forn (baked rice), pasta with rabbit sauce, and beef olives.
Although Maltese food is very heavy on meat, you can still enjoy your favorite dishes by making a few substitutions. In place of mince, you can use roughly chopped mushrooms, beans, lentils, and packaged substitutes such as soya mince. There are also many healthy vegan meals that are ready in less than 30 minutes such as this tasty stuffed roasted eggplant. And if you’re in the mood for something sweet, there’s nothing we love more than a great dessert here in Malta!
Brungiel Mimli (Maltese Stuffed Aubergine)
Equipment
- Food Processor
Ingredients
- 3 Aubergines Medium Sized
- 10 sprays Low Calorie Cooking Spray
- Pinch Salt & Pepper
- 1 Medium Tomato Chopped
- 1 tsp Olive Oil
- 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 Small Onion Chopped
- 2 tbsp Chopped Garlic
- 1 tsp Kunserva (Tomato Paste) Heaped
- 20 g Nutritional Yeast
- 50 g Light Soya Cream
- 1 tbsp Mixed Herbs (Basil, Oregano, Coriander)
- 100 g Vegan Cheese
Instructions
- Remove the stem of the aubergine and cut in half. Core the aubergine using a tablespoon and set aside.
- Chop some of the mushrooms by hand to give the additional texture to the filling, resembling the consistency of minced meat.
- Chop the remaining mushrooms and the aubergine core in a food processor.
- Slice the tomatoes and onions and fry with garlic in olive oil and soy sauce.
- Add the mushroom and aubergine mince and stir.
- Mix in kunserva, herbs and nutritional yeast and remove from heat. Add soya cream and give the mixture a final stir.
- Stuff the aubergines with the filling and top with vegan cheddar cheese.
- Bake at 180° for 45 minutes.
Video
If you’d like to start calculating nutrition facts yourself, there are plenty of apps that can help you do that. I personally prefer and use MyFitnessPal and you can find all my recipes listed there. You’ll find this recipe listed as ‘The Healthy Malteser Brungiel Mimli’
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