Description
Baby eggplant are stuffed with spiced meat and a flavorful tomato sauce. Serve with rice or enjoy as is.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Meat Mixture
- 2 pounds lean ground beef, or lamb
- 2 tablespoons DeLallo Private Reserve Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 medium onion, diced
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, additional to taste (if using table salt HALF your salt)
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup pine nuts, optional
Tomato Sauce
- 1 tablespoon DeLallo Private Reserve Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
- (2) 24 oz. jars of DeLallo Crushed Italian Tomatoes
- 1 cup (8 oz) water
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, additional to taste (if using table salt HALF your salt)
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1.5 teaspoons allspice (can sub mixed spice or cinnamon)
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
Baby Eggplant
- 12 baby eggplants, they should be about the size of your hand 4-5 inches (about 3 pounds)
- 2 tablespoons DeLallo Private Reserve Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Rice - use any rice you'd like, you can find my Lebanese Vermicelli Rice recipe linked here.
Instructions
Meat Mixture
- Begin with a large 12-14" sauté pan or skillet.
- Dice your onions and heat 2 tablespoons of DeLallo Extra Virgin Olive Oil in your large skillet or sauté pan.
- Allow your onions to cook for 10-12 minutes until they begin to soften and become translucent. Stir every few minutes.
- Next, add your lean ground beef and salt, continue to cook on medium-high heat breaking up the meat for 30-40 minutes until liquid is fully absorbed and meat is broken into fine crumbles.
- Add your cinnamon, black pepper and any additional salt (adjust to taste, will probably need another teaspoon) and pine nuts (if using). Allow to cook for medium-high for another 5 minutes. Once done, turn off heat and set aside until ready to stuff.
Tomato Sauce
- Begin with a 3 quart (or larger) sauce pot or wide skillet.
- Dice your onion and heat 1 tablespoon of DeLallo Extra Virgin Olive Oil into your sauce pot.
- Allow onion to cook for 5 minutes until just beginning to soften.
- Next, add your chopped garlic and cook for just 1 minute until it becomes fragrant. **cooking too long will burn the garlic, keep an eye on it!
- Immediately add your DeLallo Crushed Italian Tomatoes and water. Allow to come to a boil then reduce to a simmer uncovered. Add your allspice, salt, pepper and sugar. Allow to cook for 30 minutes until just thickened.
Baby Eggplant
- Place your oven rack in the upper third and set to broil.
- To prepare your eggplants, remove just the green leaves at the stem. Keep the stem in tact to ensure your eggplants don't fall apart when cooking and stuffing.
- After removing the green leaves, with a vegetable peeler or paring knife - peel 3 stripes into the skin of the eggplant.
- Arrange on a large baking pan (14-16") with sides that are at least 2" high.
- Add 2 tablespoons of DeLallo Extra Virgin Olive Oil and massage to coat all the eggplants evenly.
- Place under broiler for 5 minutes, after 5 minutes flip eggplants and continue to broil for another 5, remove again, flip and broil one more time.
- The eggplants should be soft and have a slight char to them. Remove from oven and set to 400 degrees.
- Once cool enough to handle, make a slit in the center (be sure not to cut through to the bottom) and stuff each eggplant with 2-3 heaping teaspoons of your ground beef mixture.
- Repeat with all eggplants then top and surround with your tomato sauce.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes at 400 degrees.
- Remove from oven and serve immediately with rice. Garnish with chopped parsley and additional pine nuts if desired.
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