Eggplant (Aubergine) Fit for a Sheik (Sheik Al Mihshee)

Lightly Toasted's Note:

My grandmother NEVER told me this was eggplant, or I never would have eaten it. Darn it! I guess I really DO like eggplant. The nerve of her! Prep time includes time to allow eggplant "sweat" or drain.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 45 mins
• Prep Time: 45 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1 large eggplant, sliced and unpeeled (2 lb)
• 1 lb ground lamb or 1 lb ground beef
• 1 (22 ounce) can chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon salt
• pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon clove
• 2 crushed garlic cloves
• 2 medium onions, sliced (or chopped)
• 2 -3 tablespoons melted butter

Directions:

1. Lay out slices of eggplant on a large platter, and sprinkle with salt.
2. Let sit for approx 1/2 an hour.
3. Drain off water.
4. Brown meat and onions.
5. Add garlic, cook and stir for another minute, then drain.
6. Combine tomatoes with remaining seasonings.
7. Butter a casserole.
8. Layer half beef mixture, eggplant, tomatoes.
9. Repeat.
10. Cover.
11. Bake in an 450°F oven for 1 hour.

Reviews

[mangomom]

Wow, this was good! I veganized this by substituting chopped seitan for the meat and sauteing it with the onions, and it was delicious. I rinsed the eggplant after sweating it, and only lightly sprinkled salt on the seitan-onion mixture, and it was fine, as the seitan is flavorful enough on it's own. Even my teenager thought it was great! Thank you for posting this, we'll be enjoying this again!

[newmama]

We enjoyed this very much. Dh loves eggplant, but ds and I can't have dairy so his fav eggplant parmesan is out. I didn't have clove (i have whole cloves only) so i looked at some other recipes and saw a few using cinnamon and nutmeg. I did 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1 tsp cinnamon- and i would double that next time! also, i would add a bit of garlic powder to the meat/onion/garlic mix. That being said, I will definitely make this again.

[verodcook]

We didn't care much for the very sweet taste of the meat w/the cinammon. I reduced the cloves by 1/2, maybe that made it even sweeter?
Also, I wonder why it needs to cook for 1 hr at 450. Other eggplant casseroles recipes are done in 1/2 the time.