Melanzane Ripiene alla Calabrese

Melanzane ripiene alla calabrese are Calabria's stuffed aubergines—small, round violet aubergines halved, scooped, and filled with a mixture of their own flesh, stale bread, capers, olives, anchovies, peperoncino, and pecorino, then baked until the tops are golden and the filling is savoury, tangy, and gently spicy. This is one of Calabria's great vegetable dishes—a preparation that transforms the aubergine from a side dish into a substantial course through a stuffing that draws on the region's pantry staples. The aubergines used are ideally the small, round Calabrian variety (violetta di Calabria)—about the size of a fist, with dense flesh and few seeds. They are halved, the flesh is scooped out leaving a sturdy shell, and the flesh is chopped and combined with soaked stale bread (squeezed dry), capers (salt-packed, rinsed), black olives (Calabria's small, wrinkled oil-cured variety), anchovy fillets, minced garlic, fresh parsley, a pinch of dried oregano, grated pecorino, a generous amount of peperoncino, and enough olive oil to bind. The halves are mounded with filling, arranged in a baking dish, drizzled with olive oil, and baked at 180°C for 30-40 minutes until the aubergine shell is soft and the top is crusty and golden. The stuffed halves are served at room temperature—this is emphatically not a hot dish. Like all great Calabrian vegetable preparations, the flavours develop and meld as the dish cools, and the olive oil, anchovy, and caper notes emerge more clearly at room temperature.