Puree 3 to 4 medium sized tomatoes or use canned tomato puree. Fry garlic in a saucepan with olive oil until fragrant and add the tomato, salt and pepper to taste. Add tomato paste and herbs, stir. Bring to boil and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Set aside.

Soak breadcrumbs in milk for 5 minutes. Mix with ground beef, egg, grated parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and egg. If using seasoned breadcrumbs omit adding salt and pepper.

Set aside as you will also be adding the cubed eggplant to this mixture.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large saucepan, boil 2 litres of water with 1 teaspoon of salt.

Prepare eggplant by cutting in half and then cutting around the edge. Pry out the insides with your hand or a spoon being careful not to rip the skin.

Set the shells in one pile and chop the pulp up into small cubes and place in a bowl.

Once the water has come to a boil, place the shells in the pot and boil for 1 minute, remove and set aside.

Boil the cubed eggplant pulp for 1 minute, drain and let cool in the colander. Once cool, squeeze to remove any excess water.

Add the pulp to the eggplant stuffing and mix.

Prepare a roasting pan large enough to hold the eggplant and by layering sauce and 3 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil on the bottom.

Stuff the shells with the mixture and place in the roasting pan.

Make meatballs with any leftover stuffing.

Top with the tomato sauce and some more grated parmesan cheese.

Cover with foil and place in the oven for approximately 50 minutes.

Remove from oven and let site for 10 minutes before serving as stuffing will be hot.