Eggplant stuffed with lamb, feta and pomegranate seeds, and eggplant fried Chinese style with minced pork
Eggplants are fantastic at soaking up flavours - but also the oil in which they are cooked. These recipes bring out only the best of the 'vegetable'
The eggplant is one of my favourite vegetables (although, botanically, it's a fruit). I love the way it absorbs the flavour of whatever it's cooked with. What's not good is its ability to really soak up oil, but with these recipes, that's not something you need to worry about.
For this dish, I prefer to use short (about 10cm long) Italian eggplants, because they are fatter and deeper and therefore hold more filling, but if only long Chinese eggplants are available, they'll work well too.
Slice the eggplants in half lengthwise. Use a small spoon to scoop out some of the eggplant flesh, leaving a shell about 1cm thick. Finely chop the flesh. Lay the eggplant shells cut-side up in a lightly oiled baking dish (if needed, cut a thin slice from the bottom part of the eggplant, where it touches the dish, so it doesn't wobble). Use a pastry brush to coat the eggplants with some of the olive oil, brushing it lightly over the outside, and more liberally over the exposed flesh. Lightly sprinkle salt over the eggplants.
Heat 30ml of olive oil in a skillet, add the onion and garlic and cook over a low flame until soft. Turn the heat to medium, add the cinnamon and cloves and stir for about 30 seconds. Add the minced lamb, chopped eggplant and a light sprinkling of salt. Break up the meat with a spoon then cook it until it loses its pink colour. Add the tomatoes and tomato paste and cook, stirring often, until the mixture is moist but without excess liquid seeping out of it. Add the pine nuts, chopped parsley, feta, 30 grams of grated parmesan and some black pepper. Mix thoroughly then taste for seasoning, adding salt, if needed.