- Yield: 6-8
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 40-50 minutes
SHEIKH AL-MAHSHI (Meat Stuffed Eggplant in A Tomato Sauce)
Growing up in a Lebanese household meant that eggplant was showing up on our dinner table. From Baba Ganouj, fried, in stews, or pickled in a walnut and pepper filling. When fall, rolls around I will show you how to make pickled eggplant, but today is Sheikh El- Mahshi which is one of my favorite eggplant dishes; made of mini fried eggplants and stuffed with spiced beef or lamb and cooked in a light tomato sauce, and of course served with vermicelli rice. Of course, this dish can be make with large eggplant, and even thinly sliced and layer into a casserole dish and bake. Either way, it’s delicious.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs mini eggplants (about 10-12)
- ½ lb minced ground beef
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- ½ cup red bell pepper, diced
- ½ cup of green chilli pepper, seeded and diced
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- 4 cups of crushed tomato (canned) + 1 1/2 tsps sea salt
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 3 cups of water
- ½ cup of toasted pine nut or almonds ( divided in half for filling and garnish)
- Extra parsley for garnish
Instructions
- To make the filling: In a large pan and medium to high heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil and cook onions until softened about 3-4 minutes. Then add both green and red peppers and cook for 1 minute. Add meat and all the spices (paprika, all spice, salt, black pepper and ground coriander), and cook until the meat is done, add half the toasted pine nuts or almonds and mix well.
- Wash the eggplants, cut as close to the stem as possible to remove (discard the stems) and partially peel, leaving lengthwise strips of alternating peel and flesh (as pictured).
- On medium to low heat, drizzle a bit of oil in a deep pan and cook/brown eggplants in batches for 2-5 minutes on each side to soften the eggplant, then set aside to cool before filling with meat mixture.
- Once the eggplants have cooled, gently make an slit lengthwise to form a pocket from the hull to the bottom of the eggplant, gently press several spoonfuls of stuffing into the slits.
- Spoon the spiced meat mixture into each eggplant and place on deep baking oven dish.
- To make tomato sauce: in a boil, mix tomato paste, crushed tomato and water (+ 1 teaspoon of salt, taste sauce and adjust with more salt if you like), then pour over eggplant. Cover with tin foil and bake in a preheat oven on 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Turn oven heat off, carefully remove tin foil and leave in closed oven for 10 minutes before removing to serve.
- To serve, garnish with remaining pine nuts and parsley next to a bed of Lebanese vermicelli rice.
