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Eggplant in tomato sauce in white oval dish with spoon and blue-and-white cloth.
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Eggplant Casserole Recipe with Beans (Vegan)

This healthy vegan eggplant casserole recipe contains beans for protein and bulk, is super easy to make and bursting with flavour!
Course Dinner, Main, Side Dish
Cuisine vegan
Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Calories 211kcal
Author Monika Dabrowski

Ingredients

  • 1 large eggplant aubergine, whole
  • 1x14.11oz can cannellini beans including the water
  • 1 onion finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
  • 1 red/green chilli pepper small, finely chopped
  • ½ celery stalk finely chopped
  • 1 large tomato chopped
  • 2 tablespoons tomato puree
  • 4 sun-dried tomatoes in oil drained, finely chopped
  • 4 tablespoons white wine
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil plus more for drizzling
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Sea salt and pepper to taste I used 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 400 F/ 200 C/ gas mark 6. Place the eggplant on a baking tray and bake for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven, cut off the end and chop the eggplant into chunks (do not remove the skin). Keep the oven on.
  • About 25 minutes into baking the eggplant start preparing the other ingredients.
  • In a saucepan heat up 2 tablespoons of the oil, add the bay leaf, garlic, onion, chilli and celery, stir and cook over a medium heat for 3 minutes, stirring often.
  • Add the wine and continue cooking for 2 more minutes. Add the chopped eggplant, tomato, tomato paste, sun-dried tomatoes, salt, stir, cover and bring to the boil then simmer for 10 minutes.
  • Remove the bay leaf and partly blitz the sauce so that it has a chunky (not completely pureed), consistency (I used a stick blender to do this). Combine with the beans (use the entire contents of the can, including the water), stir, season to taste and transfer into your baking dish. Drizzle with a little oil and bake for 15 minutes in a preheated oven at 200 C. Enjoy!

Notes

  • Bake the eggplant, whole, for about 35 minutes until softened. It will finish cooking in the casserole.
  • Start making the sauce approx. 25 minutes into baking the eggplant.
  • The sauce has a chunky consistency, which you can achieve by blending it very briefly before putting your casserole in the oven. (Use a stick blender and puree only some of the vegetables).  If you puree the sauce until smooth you'll get more of a baked bean rather than casserole kind of dish.
  • Use any white bean variety.
  • Herbs and spices: I kept this recipe simple but you could add 2 tablespoons of tarragon or thai basil into the sauce or garnish the dish with cilantro. Add smoked or sweet paprika into the dish if you like.
  • Serve with rice, couscous or quinoa.
  • Freeze for up to 3 months.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 211kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 294mg | Potassium: 550mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 550IU | Vitamin C: 30mg | Calcium: 85mg | Iron: 3mg