12 servings
YouTube instructional video is at the bottom.
Note- You can add 1/2- or 1-pound crabmeat to this recipe. You can add it right after you add the shrimp when assembling the dressing.
What you’ll need
4 1/2 pounds 5 medium-sized eggplants
2 1/2 to 3 pounds medium sized Louisiana shrimp (With heads)
1/2 or 1-pound crabmeat (Revised 09/08/2023)
Large eggs (Room temp)
Salted or unsalted butter
Olive oil
Plain or Italian bread crumbs
Shredded Parmesan cheese
Seasonings
1 medium-sized yellow onion
Celery
Green bell pepper
Garlic
Salt
Black pepper
Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning
Chef Paul’s seafood magic
Chef Paul’s vegetable magic
Cayenne pepper (Optional)
Dried Parsley
Dried Thyme
Dried Basil
Tools you’ll need
Potato peeler
13 by 9-inch baking pan
Preparation of ingredients
Seasonings
Step 1- Chop 1 medium-sized yellow onion, a bunch of green onion including the scallions, 2 to 3 ribs celery, 1 medium-sized green bell pepper and 2 cloves garlic until minced. Make sure you rinse off your celery and bell pepper before chopping.
Shrimp
Step 2- Remove shrimp head and shells off shrimp tail and place into one bowl and place shrimp tails into a separate bowl.
Step 3- Cut the back of each shrimp tail using a serrated knife. Remove the shrimp’s digestive tract and rinse the shrimp tails off with cold water. Place Shrimp heads, shells and tails into fridge until ready to be cooked.
Eggplant
Step 4- Remove the green leaves off of the top portion of the eggplant. Carefully peel each eggplant using a potato peeler. Rinse each eggplant off with cold water. From there, cut each eggplant into small or medium-sized cubes. Add eggplant cubes into two separate medium-sized bowls.
Step 5- Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon Chef Paul’s vegetable magic and 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil into each bowl with the chopped eggplant. Coat the seasonings and the oil onto the eggplant cubes with your hands and set aside.
Roasting the eggplant
Preheat oven to 400-degrees.
Step 6- Add 2 teaspoons olive oil into two separate 11 by 17-inch baking pans. Spread oil around each baking pan. Add cubed eggplant into each baking pan as evenly as possible.
Step 7- Place into a preheated 400-degree oven for 45 minutes. Once baking time is up, remove from oven and let cool until warm or completely. Once done you should have 1-pound and 4 ounces in weight 4 cups roasted eggplant cubes.
Shrimp stock
Preheat fire to medium heat.
Step 8- Add 2 1/2 quarts water 1 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2 or 1 teaspoon Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning, 1 teaspoon Chef Paul’s seafood magic, 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper or Zatarains’s crab boil (Optional), and Shrimp heads and shells into a medium-sized pot. Stir all ingredients together and let simmer for 1 hour.
Step 9- Once the cooking time is up, turn fire off and add the shrimp heads and shells into a mesh strainer with a medium-sized bowl underneath it. Discard shrimp heads and shells and give the shrimp stock in the bowl a quick stir. Once done, you should have 3 1/2 cups shrimp stock left.
Making the eggplant stuffing
Preheat fire to medium heat.
Step 10- Add 4 tablespoons salted or unsalted butter, 1 1/4 cups chopped yellow onion, 1/2 cup chopped scallions, 1/2 cup chopped green onions, 2/3 cup chopped celery, and 2/3 cup chopped green bell pepper into a large pot. Stir all ingredients together and let saute for 12 to 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
Step 11- Add 1 tablespoon chopped garlic, shrimp tails, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon Chef Paul’s seafood magic, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (Optional), 1/2 teaspoon dried Thyme, 1/2 teaspoon dried basil and 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley. Stir all ingredients together and let sauté for 3 to 4 minutes stirring occasionally.
Step 12- Turn fire off and add roasted eggplant cubes, 3/4 cup shrimp stock and 2/3 cup plain or Italian breadcrumbs. Stir all ingredients together until combined and let the stuffing cool until it’s warm. Once the stuffing is warm, add 2 large eggs (Room temp) and stir until well combined.
Making the Parmesan cheese Italian breadcrumbs
Step 13- Add 1/4 cup Plain or Italian breadcrumbs, and 1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese into food processor. Blend for 15 to 20 seconds.
Assembling and baking the dressing
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Step 14- Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 13 by 9-inch baking pan. Add prepared stuffing into baking pan and spread around as evenly as possible. Generously sprinkle Parmesan cheese Italian breadcrumbs on top of the dressing.
Step 15- Place into a preheated 425-degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes. After the baking time is up, remove stuffing from oven. Let cool for 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving. For best results, serve the very next day so the flavors can settle and increase overnight.
YouTube instructional video
