Stuffed slit aubergines
4 servings
Ingredients
| Quantity | Ingredient | |
|---|---|---|
| 150 | millilitres | Sunflower oil; (1/4 pint) |
| 1 | Green pepper; de-seeded and cut | |
| ; in strips | ||
| 1 | large | Onion; thinly sliced |
| 4 | tablespoons | Olive or vegetable oil |
| 375 | grams | Lean minced beef or lamb; (12oz) |
| ¼ | teaspoon | Ground allspice |
| ½ | teaspoon | Ground cinnamon |
| 250 | grams | Tomatoes; skinned if wished |
| ; and chopped (8oz) | ||
| 2 | tablespoons | Finely chopped fresh parsley |
| 300 | millilitres | Water; (1/2 pint) |
| 1 | tablespoon | Tomato puree diluted with a cupful of hot |
| ; water | ||
| Salt and freshly ground black pepper | ||
Directions
Keep the aubergines whole, including their stems, and wash them. Cut two thin strips of skin off lengthways, so that the cuts cross at right angles on top of the aubergine.
If using the large round variety, however, just slice them in half lengthways. Immerse them in a bowl of salted water for an hour; rinse and pat dry.
Preheat the oven to 180 C, 350 F, Gas Mark 4.
Fry the aubergines in hot sunflower oil until the flesh is pale golden, being careful not to burn them. Take them out and drain on absorbent paper.
At this stage if the long variety has been used, slit the aubergines lengthways, carefully, on one side, and not all the way through, so a pouch-like opening is formed.
In the case of the already halved, round variety, scoop a little of the flesh out from the middle of each half, forming a boat shape. The extracted flesh should be finely chopped and added to the meat later.
Fry the pepper strips in the same pan and reserve.
Fry the onion in the olive or vegetable oil until lightly golden. Add the meat and fry with the onion, breaking up any lumps. Add the rest of the ingredients, apart from the tomato puree but including any aubergine flesh, cover and cook for 30 minutes, until the mixture looks quite dry.
Arrange the aubergines in a medium-sized oven-proof dish. Pile the stuffing on to each half aubergine, or fill the pouch-like openings of the whole aubergines. Decorate with 2-3 fried pepper strips on top of each. Pour the diluted tomato puree into the base of the dish and cook for 40 minutes, basting once or twice.
Converted by MC_Buster.
Converted by MM_Buster v2.0l.