Baked eggplants with meat and pine nuts

Name: Baked eggplants with meat and pine nuts
Cuisine: Israeli
Ingredients: Aubergine/Eggplant: 4; Minced beef: 500 g; Pine nuts: 50 g; Onion: 2; Parsley leaves: 1 bunch of; Tomato paste: 1 tsp; Water: 150 ml; Lemon juice: 3 tbsp; Extra Virgin olive oil: as needed; Cumin powder: 1,5 tsp; Paprika powder sweet: 1,5 tbsp; Cinnamon: 1 tbsp; Cinnamon: 2 cinnamon sticks; Salt: to taste; Grounded black pepper: to taste; Brown sugar: 2 tbsp

Features:

Cuisine:

Israeli

Medium

Ingredients

Meat and vegetables:
4 Aubergine/Eggplant
medium-sized
500 g Minced beef
50 g Pine nuts
2 Onion
medium-sized
1 bunch of Parsley leaves
1 tsp Tomato paste
150 ml Water
3 tbsp Lemon juice
as needed Extra Virgin olive oil
Специи:
1,5 tsp Cumin powder
1,5 tbsp Paprika powder sweet
1 tbsp Cinnamon
2 cinnamon sticks Cinnamon
to taste Salt
to taste Grounded black pepper
2 tbsp Brown sugar

Directions

This is an oriental recipe, which means the spices will create a special mood and give the dish a fabulous flavor. Seemingly simple ingredients – eggplant, meat, onions, pine nuts but all together, it’s an explosion of flavor and the perfect combination of textures. Well, how could it be otherwise since the recipe is based on a book by the famous Yotam Ottolenghi?

The original recipe, of course, uses lamb but of us only I eat it, so I make it with beef. Also, I liked the taste of the meat so much that I sometimes make it according to this recipe without eggplant and add it to dishes with eggs or potatoes and serve it with rice or buckwheat.

Be sure to give it a try!

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Steps

1 Done	Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Cut the eggplants lengthwise right with the tails. Brush the cut eggplant with olive oil, sprinkle generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place them on a baking sheet with the cut side up and bake for about 20 minutes or until they are golden brown. Then take them out and let them cool down a bit.
2 Done	Dice the onion finely and chop the parsley leaves finely. Mix the ground spices. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan, add half of the ground spices mixture and onion and sauté together on medium heat for about 10 to 15 minutes. Then, add the ground beef, tomato paste and pine nuts, 1 tsp salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Mix it up and cook about 10 minutes more until the meat is tender. At the end add parsley leaves and mix.
3 Done	In a separate bowl, mix the remaining half of the ground spices, water, lemon juice, sugar and 1/2 tsp salt. Mix it all well.
4 Done	Pour the spice and water mixture into the bottom of a large baking dish (all the eggplants should fit into one layer). Put the eggplants on top, cut side up. Place the meat filling on each half of the eggplant, spreading it over the entire surface. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Open the dish twice during the baking and pour the sauce over the eggplants, adding a little water if the sauce has evaporated too much. The cooked eggplants should be completely soft, the meat slightly browned on top and the sauce should be thick (there will be very little of it).
5 Done	Take them out of the oven and let them cool. Serve warm (not hot). Bon Appétit!