Maybe you noticed that we did not just even enjoy the sun on our holiday and did a lot of hiking, we also cooked some dishes for you, like the Chestnut Fennel Salad, and took pictures of them. Corsica is amazing and every little city we visited had its own kind of charm. The harbor city Bonifacio, placed on white chalk cliffs on the southern tip of the island, impressed us the most. Not only the view onto the city, which seems to drop into the ocean every minute, is wonderful, also the narrow, cobbled streets of the historic center and the variety of doors, windows and walls in different colors is something you could look at for days. However, when the sun goes down, it’s time to eat something. We were able to find a cozy restaurant where we drank a glass of wine and enjoyed the mild air. We ordered a dish that is typical for Bonifacio. “Aubergines à la bonifacienne” are stuffed eggplants in a savory tomato sauce; a nice and solid meal, which we needed to cook ourselves. Eggplants, tomatoes and cheese are a terrific combination anyway. If you tried to cook our Parmigiana, you know what we’re talking about.

For this Mediterranean dish, we start with the tomato sauce. Peel, de-stem and dice the tomatoes. Chop the garlic and shallots in small pieces and sauté in olive oil. Add the tomatoes and let it boil down to a sauce. Stone and chop the olives and add to the sauce. Season with honey, sea salt and pepper.
Meanwhile halve the eggplants lengthwise and put them into boiling salted water for five minutes, then scoop out the pulp. Roast the pulp with shallots and garlic in olive oil. Season with sea salt and pepper. Dice the baguette, heat the milk and spread it over the dices. Let it soak in a covered bowl for 20 minutes. Then knead the soft baguette with capers, egg, 75g Parmesan and the eggplant mixture. The original recipe is prepared with Brocciu, a typical Corse sheep’s cream cheese. Now stuff the eggplants and place them on top of the sauce in a casserole. Spread the remaining Parmesan over it and bake in the preheated oven for 25–30 minutes at 180°C. In the meantime prepare the Pesto. Coarsely chop the pine nuts and the basil and add 1–2 tablespoon olive oil into a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and spread over the eggplants before serving.

FoR 2 Servings

1 1/2 kg beef tomatoes

2 big eggplants

1 little stale baguette

1 handful of black olives

3 tsp capers

125 ml milk

1 organic eggs (size M)

2 shallots

2 cloves of garlic

125 g Parmesan

1 bunch of basil

1 handful of pine nuts

1 tsp organic honey

extra virgin olive oil

salt

black pepper