Stuffed Eggplant with Lentils, Lamb and Middle Eastern Spices

A halved eggplant stuffed with a savoury mixture and mint leaves on a patterned plate

Stuffed Eggplant with Lentils, Lamb and Middle Eastern Spices

Soft and creamy eggplant flesh stuffed with savory lamb, lentils and Middle Eastern spices. Cooking your eggplant in a steam oven makes it fast and incredibly silky.

Prep Time30

Cook Time45

Total Time1 15

Course: Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Keyword: eggplant in a steam oven, stuffed eggplant

Servings:

Calories: 796kcal

Ingredients

4 eggplants medium sized
2 tbs olive oil
1 onion medium, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1.1 lb lamb mince lean if you’re being particularly mindful, fattier if you aren't
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbs harissa paste optional but so good
1/2 cup tomato passata or puree, or 1 large tomato, finely diced
2 cans brown lentils 14oz/400g each, drained (or cook your own, see notes)
½ bunch mint leaves picked and shredded, plus a few extra leaves for garnishing
5 1/2 oz feta cheese crumbled
1 pomegranate seeds only, to serve, optional
6 tbs Greek yoghurt to serve, optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Set your oven to 400⁰F/200⁰C, combination steam setting. If your oven has variable steam settings, use 70-80%. If not, don't worry! Just set to combi steam at the correct temperature and the oven will figure out the humidity for you.
Cut the aubergines in half lengthways and deeply score the flesh of each in a criss-cross pattern (be careful not to cut through to the bottom though). Put them cut side up onto a solid baking tray (I use both of my solid steam oven trays as fitting them all on one is usually impossible), and cook for 25 minutes – the flesh should be soft and collapsing. Turn your oven off for now.
Let the aubergines cool slightly, then scoop the flesh into a bowl (taking care not to tear the skins, although you can always squash them together a bit later if that happenand set aside, leaving the skins in the trays.
Heat a frypan over medium heat and add the oil and onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and just starting to take on colour, then add the garlic, mince and spices. Cook, breaking up the mince for a couple of minutes, then add the harissa, tomato passata and reserved aubergine flesh. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes, mashing up any big pieces of aubergine with the back of your spoon, until the mince is cooked through. Stir in the lentils and shredded mint and remove from heat.
Turn your oven back on to 180⁰C, combination steam setting. If your oven has variable steam settings, use 70-80% again.
Fill the aubergine skins with the meat mixture, then sprinkle the feta over the top and cook to heat through and brown the cheese, about 20 minutes. Top with pomegranate seeds, if using, and a few extra mint leaves. Add a spoonful of Greek yoghurt and serve warm.

Notes

If eggplants aren’t something you’re familiar with buying, look for ones which feel fairly light for their size, with taut, shiny skin. If they have wrinkles they’re too old (some might say the same about people but I prefer to think my fast-encroaching crow’s feet and the furrow line on my brow are signs of characterful ageing, and appreciate the same in others).
In the interest of expediency, I used canned lentils for this dish. If you have the luxury of time and want to cook your own, they are easy to do in the steam oven. Just cover your lentils with double the quantity of water in one of your solid trays and steam at 100⁰C until they’re tender - anywhere between 20 and 40 minutes.
Dried mint won’t cut it in place of the fresh here – if you must replace it with something I’d go with copious amounts of flat leaf parsley.

Nutrition