I woke up today and I wanted to cook something time consuming, complicated and magnificent! Okay, I just wanted to cook something magnificent, the rest came without warning!

Take three relatively big eggplants, wash them and cut the green thorn out – careful not to get hurt – cut them in half vertically using a knife.

Take a spoon and remove the flesh of the eggplant to create room for the tofu cheese and the sauce! Keep the flesh, you can use it in the sauce.

Take the little eggplant boats and spread olive oil on them using your fingers, on both sides. Put them in the oven on parchment paper for about 20 minutes on 190° Celsius (375° Fahrenheit ) so  they can soften up.

Next step is the tomato sauce.

Ingredients:

• 3 juicy tomatoes
• 3 small red onions
• 1 clove of garlic
• the flesh of the eggplants
• 1 Tablespoon of fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons of spinach
• 1/2 Tablespoon of sugar, or other sweetener
• dash of cumin
• salt  and  pepper to taste

Preparation

This is how my mom makes this sauce and this is how she cuts the onions: She slices them, and somehow this makes the sauce better for this food! So, slice those three onions, cry a bit, but don’t hate the onions because they give all the flavor to your meal! Chop the garlic clove. Take the three tomatoes and put them in a mixer or blender to make them juice.  Remove the tomato juice and put it in a bowl. I like mixing the spices in the tomato juice so I don’t have to do it when I am cooking the sauce. Mix the juice with the sugar or any other sweetener you prefer (you really want to do that because tomatoes need it to taste perfect) a pinch of cumin, and as much salt and pepper as you wish. With some of that tomato, mash the eggplant flesh in the mixer with the spinach and the parsley (maybe add a little bit of olive oil if it seems too dry) .  It is rewarding, I promise!

Coat the bottom of a medium pot with olive oil and saute over medium low heat the onion slices with the garlic. Soften them so they can give you all of their sweetness and flavor! A few minutes later, when they are all white and soft, add in the eggplant mash as well as the tomato juice, mix it well together with a spoon and cover the pot so the sauce can cook.

Put the relatively soft eggplants in a pan you have spread some vegan butter or olive oil on. In the middle of the eggplant boat place your tofu cheese or vegan cheese. I would suggest something creamy or melty to get the best result. We made our own spread/cheese out of tofu to use – and it was good! Proceed to pour the remaining tomato sauce over all the eggplant boats filled with the cheese. We used a vegan cheddar cheese to melt over the top of it all but this is optional. Place the pan in an oven at 190° Celsius (375° F) for about 40 minutes (or until eggplants become soft).

Enjoy!