Eggplant Stuffed with Meat
Sheikh el Mahshi Batinjaan
- 20 small cylindrical eggplant
- 1 1/2 cups minced lamb or beef
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 3/4 cup minced onions
- 1 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1 1/2 cups fresh tomato juice, or diluted tomato paste
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup (or more) samneh, (or other shortening)
Clean eggplant and trim stems to about half an inch. Do no remove
hulls. Partially peel, leaving lengthwise strips of alternating peel
and flesh. Fry eggplant until soft in hot samneh. Drain into
shallow baking pan or pyrex baking dish. Fry chopped onions in samneh
until yellow. Add meat, pine nuts, salt and pepper and fry until meat
is well done. Slit each eggplant lengthwise to form a pocket. Gently
press several spoonfuls of stuffing into the slits. Cover with tomato
juice, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Simmer on top of stove 15
minutes and then bake 15 minutes in hot oven to brown the tops. Serve
hot in the baking dish. Good with Lebanese rice.
(From Food from the Arab World Marie
Karam Khayat and Margaret Clark Keatinge, Khayat's, Beirut 1959)
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