Baked Eggplant Stuffed with Italian Tomato Salsa

Preheat the oven to 200 C / 400 F. Place the whole eggplant on an oven tray lined with some baking paper or foil. Place in the oven, middle shelf, for 30 minutes. This will bake/steam the eggplant from the inside.
After 30 minutes, take the eggplant out and cool it slightly. Carefully cut it in half going lengthways. It should be soft and steamy on the inside.
Turn the heat down to 180 C / 375 F. Drizzle each eggplant half with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and roast in the oven, flesh facing up, for additional 20-25 minutes or until crispy brown on top.
Cut the tomatoes into quarters, remove the seeds and dice into small cubes. Add to a bowl together with garlic and the thyme leaves (removed form the sprigs).
Remove the eggplant halves from the oven and let them cool down for about 5 minutes. Carefully cut out some of the inside flesh of the eggplant, about half a centimetre away from the edges. Drizzle the eggplant boats with a little lemon juice and sprinkle with a pinch or two of sea salt.
Chop the removed eggplant flesh and add to the tomatoes, garlic and thyme. Add a good pinch of sea salt, pepper, lemon juice and olive oil and mix well. Scoop equal amounts of the salsa mixture and fill the eggplant boats. Garnish with a sprig of thyme and a drizzle of olive oil for extra shine.