Moroccan Stuffed Eggplant (Aubergine)

Submitted by bluemoon downunder

"A quick to make mid-week main course with a Moroccan twist, adapted from a recent issue of the Australian 'Women's Day'."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 5mins
• Ingredients: 18
• Yields: 4 stuffed eggplant halves
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 2 medium eggplants, halved lengthways
• 1⁄3 cup olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 500 500 g ground pork or 500 g ground chicken
• 1 tablespoon moroccan seasoning
• 2 tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1⁄4 cup pine nuts
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• salt, to taste
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 tablespoon breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese

• Tomato and Cucumber Salad

• 1 lebanese cucumber
• 250 g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 tablespoon coriander leaves
• 1 teaspoon olive oil (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar (to taste)

directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. Using a small knife and a spoon, carefully remove the flesh from the eggplant halves without breaking the skin, and chop the flesh coarsely.
3. Place the eggplant halves onto a baking tray, cut side up, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of oil and bake for 10-15 minutes, until tender.
4. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pan, over a medium heat, and sauté the eggplant flesh for 3-5 minutes, until it is golden and tender; remove from the pan and set aside.
5. In the same pan, heat the remaining oil over a high heat and sauté the onion and garlic for 1 minute, then add the ground meat and cook for 4-5 minutes, until it is well browned, breaking up the lumps as it browns with the back of a spoon.
6. Return the eggplant to the pan, add the Moroccan seasoning and cook, stirring, for 1 minute, until fragrant. Stir in the tomato, pine nuts and sugar and season to taste.
7. Fill the eggplant halves with the meat mixture and sprinkle with breadcrumbs and Parmesan.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden and tender.
9. Serve with the tomato and cucumber salad and fresh crusty bread.
10. Tomato and Cucumber Salad: Chop the cucumber and toss the cucumber pieces and halved cherry tomatoes with the olive oil and red wine vinegar and season to taste.

Reviews

[One Happy Woman]

This looks great - I'm going to just give it five stars before trying it - because drizzling the eggplant with oil before baking makes total sense and that alone is worth two stars. Three stars for the Moroccan spice touch. /// To make removal of eggplant flesh easier, use a curved, serrated grapefruit knife. Here are the Morrocan spice mixes posted on this site by other users, for quick reference: (1) 5 teaspoons ground nutmeg 5 teaspoons ground cumin 5 teaspoons ground coriander 2 1/2 teaspoons allspice 2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger 1 1/4 teaspoons cayenne pepper 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon Directions Mix spices together and store in an airtight container. (2) 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg 2 teaspoons ground coriander 2 teaspoons ground cumin 2 teaspoons ground ginger 2 teaspoons turmeric 2 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika 1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon cardamom powder 1 teaspoon ground allspice 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves (3) 1 teaspoon allspice berry 1 whole nutmeg 20 Spanish saffron threads 2 teaspoons black peppercorns 1 three-inch cinnamon stick 2 teaspoons cardamom seeds 1 1/2 teaspoons ground mace 2 teaspoons ground ginger 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon ground turmeric UPDATE: I made this and it's terrific! 5 stars!

 

[Marie]

My very first Moroccan dish and I enjoyed it very much, probably because many of the ingredients are what I love to cook with. However, I do not know what moroccan seasoning is and didn't have any, so I don't know how that affected the flavor of the dish. I did serve it with the tomato cucumber salad which also was very good. Thanks so much for posting.