Lamb Stuffed Eggplant With Tomato And Feta Food

ROASTED EGGPLANT AND LAMB RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Arrange the eggplant halves cut side up in a large baking dish. Brush with two tablespoons of oil and sprinkle with some of the salt. Bake until the skin is browned and the flesh is soft, for about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a large cast iron or non-stick skillet, heat the remaining one tablespoon of oil. Add the onions and garlic, season with salt and saute over medium heat, stirring often, until softened.
• Add the ground lamb and the spices. Brown, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon until the meat is cooked through, about 5-10 minutes. Stir in the crushed tomatoes and pine nuts, if using, reserving a tablespoon for topping.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Cut the eggplant down the middle, making sure not to tear the skin on the bottom. Spoon the lamb mixture onto the eggplants in the baking dish. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
• Garnish the eggplants with parsley and reserved pine nuts and serve immediately.

STUFFED EGGPLANT WITH LAMB

Steps:

• Peel the eggplants lengthwise in 1/2-inch strips "zebra-style," leaving a 1/2-inch strip of skin between each peel. Trim off long stems so eggplant will fit in pan. Heat oil in a large, deep frying pan. In batches, fry eggplant until golden all over and beginning to soften, turning frequently. Transfer eggplant to a baking dish, placing them side by side, and cut a deep slit lengthwise in each eggplant. Set aside.
• Heat the butter in the skillet, add the onions and saute until soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the lamb and cook for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, bell peppers and salt, and saute until all the juices are absorbed, about 5 more minutes. Stir in the parsley, and lemon juice, adjust seasonings and remove from heat.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Stuff the eggplants tightly with the ground lamb mixture, enlarging the opening with your hand. Add a little water to the baking dish, cover, and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until eggplants are very tender.

BONELESS ROAST LEG OF LAMB WITH FETA CHEESE, OLIVES, AND BABY EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lay the butterflied leg of lamb flat on a work surface, fat side down. Combine the bread crumbs, currants, pine nuts, parsley, garlic, feta cheese, olives, rosemary, olive oil, and lemon juice in a bowl and blend well to make a coarse stuffing for the lamb. Spread the stuffing evenly along the center of the inside of the leg of lamb. Fold the lamb towards the center, one side and then the other, to enclose the stuffing and form a roll. Pin the roll closed with toothpicks or skewers, or tie the roll in several places with butcher's twine so that it does not open during cooking.
• Season the outside of the lamb with salt and pepper and place, seam-side-down, in a roasting pan. Place in the oven and roast for 45 minutes, then add the baby eggplants to the roasting pan with the lamb. Continue roasting the lamb and eggplant for another 35 to 40 minutes for medium rare.
• Remove the lamb and eggplants from the oven and allow the roast to cool for 20 minutes before slicing. Serve 2 to 3 slices of lamb per person and 1 or 2 roasted eggplants. The eggplant should be left whole during roasting, then split down the middle to serve. They should be eaten by scooping out the creamy eggplant interior, leaving the shells behind.

TASTY BAKED LAMB WITH FETA CHEESE AND TOMATOES

Steps:

• Cube the neck fillet and place on the base of a 9inch square oven dish.
• Change the dish size to suit you but we normally have enough lamb to cover the base of the dish - this makes a large meal for us two!
• Salt and pepper the lamb.
• Then cube feta cheese and sprinkle over the top.
• Thinly slice the tomatoes and layer over the top so that the dish is covered.
• Sprinkle on dried herbs.
• Sprinkle over the olive oil.
• Bake in the oven for 60 to 90 mins (we normally go for 90) at Gas mark 5 or 190°C.
• Half way through the baking time take the dish out and use a baster to draw out the juices at the bottom of the dish and squirt on the top.

TURKISH STUFFED EGGPLANT WITH SPICY LAMB AND RICE

Steps:

• Lamb and Rice Filling
• 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
• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Combine all the ingredients except the eggplants in a small bowl.
• 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
• 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.

MAUREEN ABOOD'S EGGPLANT WITH LAMB, TOMATO AND PINE NUTS

Steps:

• Heat broiler and line a baking sheet with foil or parchment.
• Brush both sides of eggplant slices with 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. Arrange slices on prepared baking sheet and broil in batches until they are deep mahogany brown, turning once halfway through, 5 to 7 minutes per side.
• Adjust the oven to 375 degrees with rack positioned in the center.
• In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the remaining olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent, but not browned, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add ground lamb or beef, stirring frequently and breaking up meat into very small pieces with the side of a metal spoon. Season with remaining teaspoon salt, cinnamon and pepper. Sauté until meat is just cooked through. Taste and add more salt or pepper, or both, as needed.
• In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add pine nuts and reduce heat to medium-low. Stir nuts to coat them with butter and continue stirring constantly until nuts are golden brown, 2 to 4 minutes. Keep a close watch over the nuts; they can burn quickly once they begin to brown. Transfer nuts to a bowl while still warm and salt them lightly.
• Coat a 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking dish with remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Spread 1/2 cup of tomato sauce in the bottom of the dish. Lay 1/3 of the eggplant slices in a single layer over the sauce, covering as much surface area of the bottom of the dish as possible. Spoon half the meat evenly over eggplant. Pour 1/3 of the remaining tomato sauce evenly over meat. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the pine nuts. Layer again with eggplant, meat, tomato sauce and pine nuts. Finish with a layer of eggplant and cover with more tomato sauce, sprinkling top with pine nuts.
• Pour 1 cup warm water around the perimeter of the baking dish. (Sauce will thicken as it bakes.) Cover pan with foil and bake for 90 minutes. Remove foil and top eggplant evenly with mozzarella. Bake for 15 minutes longer, uncovered, or until the cheese is bubbling and golden. Serve eggplant warm, over rice.

EGGPLANT AND LAMB AL FORNO

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Salt eggplant well, arrange in colanders, and place weighted bowls on top. Let drain for 30 minutes. Rinse and dry.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, 1 teaspoon salt, and 3/4 teaspoon black pepper; cook until tender, 7 to 10 minutes. Add oregano, cinnamon, cumin, and cayenne; cook 2 minutes more. Add lamb, and cook until it browns, about 5 minutes. Drain fat from pan. Break up tomatoes, and add to pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until sauce starts to thicken, about 8 minutes.
• Place 4 eggplant slices in an 8-inch square baking pan, and top with a third of the sauce. Repeat twice, making 4 3-layer stacks. Combine 1 teaspoon parsley and breadcrumbs; sprinkle over the top.
• Cover with foil, and bake for 1 hour. Remove foil, and bake for 10 to 15 minutes more. Sprinkle with remaining parsley; serve hot.