We are pretty stoked this week as we harvested our first eggplant for the season! They really are a super versatile vegetable and can be the base for many summer dishes like Caponata salads, Shakshuka, Baba Ganoush and of course Moussaka. Most of these out the middle east or Greece.
Eggplants also have many other uses in the kitchen, most of us simply slice into 1 cm thick slices drizzle with a little oil and salt. Grilling on the BBQ until coloured. Chopping up and adding to a salad, which is also fine.
- 500gm lamb mince
- 1 med onion, peeled and diced
- 1/2 cup Italian parsley, chopped
- 6 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 2 tsp allspice, ground
- 1 tsp cinnamon, ground
- 1/2 tsp salt
- chilli flakes if you wish
- 6 mint leaves, finely sliced
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tbsp oil for frying
- 1 eggplant sliced into 12
- 1 pkt baby red tomatoes
- 1/2 cucumber, deseeded and diced
- 12 mint leaves, chopped
- 200gm yoghurt
Tomato sauce
- 1 can whole peeled tomatoes
- 1 Tbsp oregano, dried
- pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 180*C
In a large bowl combine the mince with rest of the ingredients. Mix well and then roll into large balls slightly bigger than a golf ball or 80gms. Heat a tbsp of oil in a large frypan and cook off the balls turning until well coloured, remove.
Combine the ingredients for the tomato sauce. Take a roasting tray and spoon a couple of tablespoons of tomato sauce on the bottom. Lay the eggplant down on top of the tomato then a meatball on top followed by spooning the rest of the tomato sauce over. Halve the tomatoes and scatter before placing into the oven for 35 minutes.
Combine the yoghurt and mint leaves and season with a pinch of salt and cracked pepper.
Serve with couscous and cucumber yoghurt