Turkish Stuffed Eggplant with Spicy Lamb and Rice
Aaaaahhh, Mediterranean comfort food! Think of this as a heady, warmly spiced alternative to your mom’s stuffed bell pepper. The baked eggplant flesh becomes a tender bed for the luscious meat and rice filling, and the whole is so succulent and moist that no sauce is needed. Some chilled sliced cucumber and onion with olive oil and vinegar would be a good starter or side dish.
After you’ve made this recipe once, you may want to embellish the filling a bit with some additional ingredients, such as toasted pine nuts, artichoke hearts, or a handful of lightly soaked currants. Or you may want to vary the herbs with oregano, cilantro, or mint. I’ve also added some small cubes of feta cheese.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 4 servings
Ingredients
Lamb and Rice Filling
Eggplant
To Assemble
Preparation
Lamb and Rice Filling
Step 1
Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat, then add the onion and pepper, stir, and cook for 3–5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and crumble in the ground meat. Raise the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring, for 5–6 minutes, until the meat has lost its pink color and the mixture is starting to dry out and brown a little in the pan. Tilt the pan and spoon out any excess fat from the lamb. Sprinkle in the seasonings, stir, then add the tomatoes and puree, then the stock. Stir and scrape the bottom of the pan to dissolve the brown bits that have accumulated. Add the rice and herbs, and stir and cook a couple of minutes, until warmed through. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking. When the filling is well mixed, moist, and flavorful—but not wet—remove it from the heat and let it cool.
Eggplant
Step 2
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Step 3
Combine all the ingredients except the eggplants in a small bowl.
Step 4
Cut the stem end from each eggplant, then cut it in half lengthwise. Take a look at the flesh, and if it is creamy white and not too seedy, don’t worry about salting it. However, if it is a little darker, with numerous seeds, there’s a good chance the juices will be slightly bitter, so you’ll want to extract them. To do this, sprinkle the cut sides with about a teaspoon of salt each and place them cut side down on a plate or tray lined with a double thickness of paper towels. Place another plate or tray on top and weight that with a couple of pounds (cans of beans work well). Set aside for 10–15 minutes, then remove the weight and brush the salt off the surface, or rinse with running water and pat dry. Cut a shallow crosshatch pattern in the cut surface of the eggplant and brush generously with the flavored oil. Place the eggplant halves cut sides up on a lightly oiled baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan once, until the eggplants are very soft when you squeeze the sides and the surface is golden brown. Cool completely.
To Assemble
Step 5
With your fingers or a spoon, press the tender eggplant flesh to the sides, making a bed for the filling. Divide the filling among the halves. Sprinkle the bread crumb topping evenly over the filling and pat it lightly. Bake the filled eggplants for about 15 minutes, or until they’re heated through and the crumbs are browned.
