Meat Stuffed Eggplants
If you like eggplants as much as I do, than these meat stuffed eggplants may become your next, absolute favorite dish.
I agree, the making may be slightly time consuming, but the overall result, and I mean the taste, is very well worth every minute you spent to make this delicious and flavorful dish. I have several recipes for meat stuffed eggplants. I hope you try this one first, let me know how you like it and I’ll go ahead and share more recipes for meat stuffed eggplants or other veggies.
Happy cooking!
Ingredients
You will need 3 large eggplants ( about 14-16 oz/ 400 grams each)
Salt
For the meat stuffing
600-650 grams fresh ground meat, I used half turkey, half beef
⅔ cup rice, round or long grain, I used jasmine rice
1 large onion
3-4 cloves of garlic
½ cup water or vegetable stock (or any stock you have on hand, this is to make the meat mixture more tender)
3-4 tbs fresh parsley and cilantro mix, use any of your favorite herbs if desired
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp dried savori (optional)
2 tsp dried dill
2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp sumac (optional )
Salt to taste
For tomato sauce
4-6 tbs olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic,minced
2-3 green chilli peppers or bell peppers, finely sliced or cubed
1 can tomato sauce
½ cup salsa
1-2 tbs red pepper paste
1 tsp ground black pepper (or white pepper)
½ tsp curry powder
1 cup vegetable stock or water
Salt to taste
Directions
Start by prepping the eggplants
Wash the eggplants
Using a knife make about 5-6 half inch slices on each eggplant, leaving an inch or so from the top and from the bottom, refer to YouTube video for more details
Do not slice through completely, leave the bottom of each eggplant flat and uncut
Generously sprinkle each slot with salt and set aside, the salt will remove the bitterness from the eggplant
Preparing the rice
Wash the rice, place in a saucepan and cover with boiling water
Bring to a boil, turn of the heat , set aside Do not cook the rice!
Making the meat stuffing
In a food processor combine:
Vegetable stock ( or water), coarsely chopped onion, garlic,herbs,spices and seasonings
Pulse until smooth and add to the ground meat, add in the rice (rinse it with cold water before adding )
Mix everything well until incorporated
Good idea to taste the salt
Making the tomato sauce
In a frypan combine olive oil and chopped onions
Sauté until translucent , add the chopped peppers and cook 2-3 more minutes
Stir in the tomato sauce, red pepper paste, salsa and vegetable stock
Cook another 2-3 minutes, add salt, pepper and curry powder (feel free to use your favorite spices)
Now when everything is prepared and ready, you can start stuffing and arranging the eggplants in your baking pan
Preheat the oven to 425°F /200°C degrees
Wash off all the salt from the eggplants before stuffing
Place about the ¼ of the tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan
Stuff each slot of the eggplant with meat and place on baking pan
Pour some of the tomato sauce on top of each eggplant, leave the rest of the sauce for later use
Cover with foil and cook about 45-50 minutes
Remove the foil drizzle with tomato sauce again and cook another 15-20 minutes
Repeat the same 1-2 more times and cook 15-20 more minutes or until the eggplants are cooked through
It’s a good idea to slice one and check if it’s cooked, before you turn off the heat
Allow the dish to set 10-15 minutes before serving
Enjoy and Bon Appetite !
Բարի Ախորժակ!
