Stuffed Eggplant with Lamb and Pine Nuts

 

One night I had a dream where I was searching for the perfect eggplant recipe.  I was searching a forest for eggplants and trying to think what would pair well with it.  I woke up around 4am not being able to fall back asleep so I decided to search recipes in real life.  I found this one from Jerusalem: A Cookbook and as soon as I saw it, I knew that it was the perfect one. 

 

I made a couple changes to the recipe: Since lamb isn't cheap, I used the extra carved out eggplant so I could use less lamb and still have plenty of stuffing.  I also cut down the cooking time and made the sauce on the stove rather than in the oven. 

 

This was complete heaven.  We gobbled it up so fast that I totally forgot to snap a photo of the finished product so I used the one from Serious Eats website.  

 

 



Ingredients

2 medium eggplants, halved lengthwise

6 tablespoons olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 medium onions (12 ounces/340 grams in total), finely chopped

1/2 pound ground lamb

7 tablespoons pine nuts ( I just tossed in a handful)

2/3 ounces flat-leaf parsley, chopped

2 teaspoons tomato paste

3 teaspoons superfine sugar

2/3 cup  water

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon tamarind paste  (I could only find a tamarind chutney but it still worked our perfectly)

4 cinnamon sticks

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Preheat the oven to 425°F/220°C.

Hollow out eggplants, set aside filling. Place the eggplant halves, skin side down, in a roasting pan 
large enough to accommodate them snugly. Brush the eggplant with 
4 tablespoons of the olive oil and season with 1 teaspoon salt and plenty of black pepper. Roast for about 20 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool

Dice extra eggplant filling into small cubes, lightly toss with olive oil.

While the eggplants are cooking, you can start making the stuffing by heating the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large frying pan. Mix together the cumin, paprika, and ground cinnamon and add only half of this spice mix to the pan, along with the onions and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat for about 8 minutes, stirring often

Add the lamb, diced eggplant, pine nuts, parsley, tomato paste, 1 teaspoon of the sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and some black pepper. Continue to cook 
and stir for another 8 minutes, until the meat is cooked.

Place the remaining spice mix in a small pot and add the water, lemon juice, tamarind, the remaining 2 teaspoons sugar, the cinnamon sticks, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; mix well.  Gently simmer and reduce volume by 1/2. 

Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F/195°C. 

Spoon the lamb/eggplant mixture on top of each eggplant. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil, return to the oven, and roast for 30mins, by which point the eggplants should be completely soft. At least once or twice while the eggplants roasting a second time, remove the foil and baste the eggplants with a spoonful of sauce.

Serve warm, not hot, or at room temperature.  Serve with sauce on the side.