Hi Rose! Thank you so much for writing! You are going to love it there. The food is so good and the water is clear and dark blue. My Aunt Rose often puts potato in hers. I love the basic version so much that I haven’t brought myself to vary them yet! My nonna made them every Christmas as well and I will be doing so this week. Have a very Merry Christmas.

I was so happy to see this recipe! My Grandfather is from Marina di Gioiosa Ionica. My husband and I are going this Spring for the first time. This recipe is a tradition that my mom has made every year for Christmas. She made them with potatoes and I always helped her with the frying. Now that she can no longer make them I have taken on the tradition. I didn’t realize the different variations.. Thank you for sharing the recipe and allowing others to share wonderful memories that hold on to our traditions.

What a small world! My aunt sometimes adds meat too and she said sometimes you can even add potato. How can you go wrong? I hope they come out well! The water is so beautiful in Calabria isn’t it? It’s so blue.

Hello, I’m attempting to make them as well for my family tomorrow….My dads side of the family who also was from Mammola (was very surprised to hear Nick say his family was also from there) made theirs with added ground pork meat and same ingredients as you mentioned Tina. Look forward to see how they turn out 😊……… I’ve been three times now to Marina di Gioiosa we love it there!💕

Hello Nick! Thank you so much for sharing your connection to these special eggplants. For those of us that grow up with them, they truly are more than just a recipe. There are so many memories attached… I hope you enjoy the recipe and that it tastes the way you remember them! I teared up reading your comment!

Hi Tina,
My parents were from a town called Mammola, a five minute drive by bus to Gioiosa Mariana. My mother passed away about five years ago.
When we would visit her, she would always ask her grandchildren what they would want her make when they came to visit. There answer was also Calabrian Stuffed eggplant because my dad would never make them. As a child I never like them because I was not a fan of pecorino. My mother would always make a separate batch made with reggiano so that I would have some to eat. Of course, my siblings would tell me that I am not Calabrese because the true stuffed eggplant was made with pecorino. Seeing your recipe would bring back childhood memories of what my family missed from there nonna. So I want to tell you that you have inspired me to make them for my family. I know my mom is in heaven giving me assistance to make them for my wife and kids.

Hi Rosemary. Thanks for writing and reading! Yes, I have done other stuffed eggplant recipes over the years without frying or boiling. It sounds like she was doing a different dish. Usually, you’ll scoop out the eggplant flesh and then cook it in a skillet with things like garlic, and other aromatics, then stuff the filling back into the eggplant and bake it. I love all eggplant recipes!

Hi Linda. Boy did you – you have yumminess all around you! There’s nothing like a good bowl of pasta e fagioli! Now I’m hungry…