Gently charred aubergine, piled high with spiced lamb and pine nuts, this is a glorious one pot wonder.
This recipe is: peanut free, tree-nut free (pine nuts are seeds but check the packet for ‘may contain’ warnings), soy free, legume free and egg free, and does not contain fish or shellfish.
Recipe can be dairy free if dairy-free yoghurt is used and wheat free and gluten free if gluten free flatbreads are used. This recipe was first published in LEON Happy One Pot (published by Octopus), which I wrote with the team at LEON restaurants. Photo by Steven Joyce.
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Ingredients
onion 1 (chopped)
tomatoes 1 (chopped)
fresh parsley 2 tbsp (chopped)
fresh dill 2 tbsp (chopped)
olive oil 3 tbsp
aubergine 2 (halved)
lamb mince 250 g
pine nuts 1 tbsp
tomato purée 1 tbsp
ground cumin ½ tsp
flatbreads to serve
chilli flakes to serve
Greek yoghurt 4 tbsp
Method
Heat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.
Chop the onion, tomato, fresh parsley and fresh dill.
Use a large, wide ovenproof pan with a lid (mine is 30cm wide). Set it over a medium heat and add 3 tablespoons of olive oil. With the cut sides facing upwards, slash three lines straight down the length of each aubergine half, without breaking the skin underneath.
Place the aubergines, cut side down first, in the pan and brown them all over.
Remove from the pan and season well with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Add the lamb mince to the same pan, adding more olive oil if needed, and brown it well too – do this in batches if necessary, so that the meat browns rather than stews.
Return all the meat to the pan and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until the onion is just beginning to brown, around 10 minutes. Next add the pine nuts and toast for a minute or two, then add the tomato purée and cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes.
Add the cumin and chopped fresh tomato, then 200ml hot water. Bring up to a gentle simmer and let bubble for 10 minutes. Add half the chopped herbs, then taste and season.
Return the aubergines to the pan and arrange them cut side up. Use a large spoon to scoop up the lambmixture and pile it on top of the aubergines, dividing it equally between the 4 halves and pulling the slashes in each one apart slightly so that they open up during cooking.
Pour an extra dash of hot water into the pan, cover with a lid and cook in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove the lid, baste the aubergines and lamb with the pan juices and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and check that the aubergines are well cooked– they should be almost collapsing and soft all the way through. If they are not, cover the pan again (to protect the meat from burning) and return to the oven for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and sprinkle with the remaining chopped herbs.
Serve with warm flatbreads to mop up the juices, a sprinkle of chilli flakes or warming pul biber, (a vibrant Turkish red pepper flake) and a dollop of thick Greek yoghurt on the side.
