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Aubergines stuffed with spiced mince and pine nuts - a la Ottolenghi

12/9/2013

 
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An eggplant or aubergine 'little plates' number on the menu at Soju Girl in the city took my fancy when dining with lovely friends recently. The dish featured a row of baby Japanese eggplants stuffed with spiced pork mince, sesame and pepitas, or pumpkin seeds. They were such tasty little morsels that I knew on first bite that I would like to recreate them at home.

My palate enjoyed the combination of spices with a sweet, sour and salty finish. 'There's another ingredient here that I can't quite put my finger on, ' I said to my knowledgable food colleagues, Sue Dodd and Annette Forrest. 'It's tamarind,' Sue replied immediately. Yes, of course, that was it! 

Now, Soju Girl is all about modern Asian fusion food, but this dish struck me as being a little more exotic, Persian perhaps. So, at home I poured through a pile of my favourite Persian/Middle Eastern/Moroccan cookery books, including Tamarind and Saffron and Arabesque, both by Claudia Roden, as well as New Food of Life by Najmieh Batmanglij (a delicious big book subtitled 'Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies), and also Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi. The two former titles featured numerous aubergine or eggplant dishes, but it was Mr Ottolenghi's receipt for stuffed aubergine with lamb and pine nuts that seemed to best match the flavours that were still so fresh in my mind. Of course I could have experimented with my own recipe, but as it was I was keen to road test another recipe from Jerusalem, it is such a splendid book!
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For tasty little bites, shop for the smallest aubergines you can find. Those labelled as Japanese or Lebanese tend to be quite tiny. The ones at the restaurant were not much bigger than a man's thumb, whereas those pictured above are about twice the size, however they were the smallest I could find at the time of purchase. They are beautiful, nonetheless, don't you think?!
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Pick some sprigs of fresh flat leaf parsley from the garden, rinse it and pat it dry with paper towelling, then chop.
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Store pine nuts in a sealed container in the freezer so that they don't quickly turn rancid. They will keep for 3-4 months.

My take on the recipe...

AUBERGINES STUFFED WITH SPICED MINCE & PINE NUTS
4 small to medium sized aubergines/eggplants, sliced in half lengthways
1/2 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 large onion, finely chopped
500g pork and veal mince (or lamb mince)*
1 heaped tablespoon pine nuts
handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1 scant tablespoon caster sugar
150mls water
juice of half a lemon
1 teaspoon tamarind paste
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place the aubergines, skin side down on the tin and brush liberally with oil, then season with salt and pepper. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Remove the tray from the oven, set aside and allow the aubergines to cool. Leave the oven on but lower the temperature to 175 degrees C.

Combine the spices in a bowl and mix to blend. Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a heavy based pan, fry the onions until they soften, then stir in half of the spice mix and cook over a low heat for 2-3 minutes, then add the mince and cook until it begins to brown. Now stir in the pine nuts, tomato puree, parsley, one teaspoon of the caster sugar and a little salt and pepper. Mix together the rest of the spice mix in the bowl with the water, lemon juice, tamarind paste, remaining caster sugar and (if you like) a little more salt. Mix well, until smooth.

Gently transfer the roasted aubergines to a small cast iron/pyrex/enamel baking pan, placing them skin side down. Pour the spice/tamarind/water mixture into the bottom of this baking pan around the aubergines. Then spoon the mince mixture evenly over the top. Cover the pan with aluminium foil and return to the oven for 30-45 minutes until the sauce is thick and syrupy and the aubergines are soft. Mr Ottolenghi recommends basting the aubergines twice during cooking with the sauce and add a little more water if it dries out. 

This dish should be served warm or at room temperature, rather than hot. Actually, if you refrigerate it overnight, the flavours will be more intense and far more delicious the following day. That said, I must tell you that I also enjoyed eating it cold. Serves two as meal, four as a starter, dependent on the size of the aubergines.

The original recipe called for lamb mince, which I think would work beautifully, but I do love a lean pork and veal mince too.

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The process in pictures...

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'Serve warm, not hot, or at room temperature,' says Mr Ottolenghi...

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Tell me, after dining out, do you like to recreate dishes at home? What has been your favourite of these experiments? And are you a fan of Claudia Roden and Yotam Ottolenghi?
Jamie link
12/9/2013 01:34:39 am

I am so glad you shared this recipe! These are the flavors I adore and often make a lamb mince with these ingredients to use on pizza, similar to the filling in the gozleme I made. I adore this cooking! I really want to make it like this now in aubergines. Just beautiful!

Lizzy
14/9/2013 12:49:35 am

Jamie, thank you.... spiced lamb on pizza must be delicious! I love lamb on gozleme. Thanks for your kind words : )

azita link
12/9/2013 02:19:54 am

beautiful pix and post Lizzy! this recipe is indeed reminiscent of Persian food and I love the idea of using pine nuts and tamarind, will have to incorporate both in the future when making stuffed eggplants.

I hope to dine & cook together sometime in the future. One can dream, no?

Lizzy
14/9/2013 12:50:23 am

Azita, thank you so much... it would be lovely for us to cook and dine together sometime... it's not impossible : )

Pat Machin link
12/9/2013 02:47:11 am

That looks delicious and I am always in awe of your photography.

I am definitely a fan of both Claudia Roden and Ottolenghi!

Lizzy
14/9/2013 12:50:45 am

Pat, thank you so much, so very kind of you. : )

Adri link
12/9/2013 07:43:22 am

Beautiful! Oh, i have got to try this. Ottolenghi has opened so many flavor doors for me, and I see that he has done it again. Thank you so much for working on this and for posting it.!

Your dish looks beautiful. Your photographs are gorgeous and utterly tantalizing. Brava!

Lizzy
14/9/2013 12:51:30 am

Adri, thanks so much. Like my other friends, you and I love Ottolenghi. Thanks for stopping by : )

kellie@foodtoglow link
12/9/2013 07:49:20 am

You've done Yotam proud. Looks fantastic. And I swear I have conjured up the heady smell of this dish as I type. Gorgeous, Miss Liz x

Lizzy
14/9/2013 12:51:53 am

Kellie, thank you very much! It is a lovely dish!

Barbara | Creative Culinary link
12/9/2013 08:38:11 am

I love the name aubergine used instead of eggplant...one sounds beautiful and the other simply bland...sort of like the differences in dishes I've had with them! I've seen them small but not this small...they are simply lovely!

Lizzy
14/9/2013 12:52:34 am

Barbara, I agree. Curiously in one book Claudia Roden calls them eggplant and in another of her books she refers to them as aubergines.

Muppy link
12/9/2013 10:23:38 am

This sounds delicious! I need that book

Lizzy
14/9/2013 12:52:52 am

Thanks Muppy, yes you do need the book : )

Eha
12/9/2013 02:00:51 pm

This is one recipe I'll make in haste after I regain my sealegs :) ! My new Ottolenghi book is actually residing on my bedside table [have to get the latest Rodan even if I supposedly have a moratorium on about buying cookery books!] and I have all the ingredients to boot: as I love, love, love eggplant this will be a joy. And thank you for the tip to use the freezer for pine nuts: I have had a few expensive packs go rancid on me!

Lizzy
14/9/2013 12:53:31 am

My pleasure Eha... I hope you are starting to feel better. : )

john@kitchenriffs link
12/9/2013 03:21:41 pm

I love tamarind! I don't use it nearly often enough - I need to correct that. Maybe in this dish? It certainly looks wonderful. Super dish, super photos - thanks.

Lizzy
14/9/2013 12:53:50 am

John, me too. Thanks for your kind words.

Glenda
12/9/2013 09:41:32 pm

I have this wonderful cookbook and have made this recipe twice. It is truly delicious and very straightforward. It's a great dish to take along to a dinner with shared plates.

Lizzy
14/9/2013 12:54:20 am

Thanks Glenda, I love it too. It was lovely at the restaurant as well, and the aubergines were so tiny!

InTolerant Chef link
12/9/2013 11:44:41 pm

I adore his cookbooks too- so full of deliciousness! The tamarind is a surprise though, do you think traditionally they would use pomegranate molasses for that sweet sour taste?

Lizzy
14/9/2013 12:54:44 am

Yes, Bec, that was my thoughts too. Actually I might try that next time.

Laura (Tutti Dolci) link
13/9/2013 01:54:24 pm

I love stuffed eggplant, what a tasty recipe!

Lizzy
14/9/2013 12:54:58 am

Thanks Laura, I love eggplant full stop : )

Christina Soong-Kroeger link
15/9/2013 02:00:21 am

I really love the look of this, Lizzy. Gorgeous flavours and lovely presentation.

Lizzy
18/9/2013 04:31:28 pm

Thanks so much, Christina, it's definitely a keeper xo

Fiona link
17/9/2013 10:40:58 pm

I'm a big fan of eggplant as you know and soon to become a much bigger fan as the 4 in the garden of the other day is now 8! They are heritage 'Black Beauty' but I also planted the Lebanese style out the back as I didn't think the other ones would grow. So, I'll be needing this and all the other recipes I can lay my hands on. The ones at Soju Girl must have been tiny!

Lizzy
18/9/2013 04:32:16 pm

Hi Fiona... so envious of your eggplant growing... I MUST try some this year. The Soju Girl ones were tiny indeed! I hope you try this recipe... get your hands on Plenty and Jerusalem xo

Kyrstie @ A Fresh Legacy link
17/9/2013 11:33:57 pm

Stunning pictures Liz and a gorgeous recipe. I have for fingers crossed for a bumper crop of eggplants this year so that I can experiment also. I do love them stuffed but have not tried with pork. Thanks for sharing.

Lizzy
18/9/2013 04:32:38 pm

Thanks Kyrstie, perhaps I should ask you for some growing tips!

Catherine @ farmhousehome link
18/9/2013 05:55:57 pm

This looks so tasty, I'll have to try it.

Lizzy
18/9/2013 07:14:45 pm

It is very tasty, Catherine : )

Karen (Back Road Journal) link
20/9/2013 08:25:30 am

I can't wait to try this recipe as my husband and I both love lamb. Mixed with all the spices in the aubergines it sounds wonderful.

Lizzy
20/9/2013 07:58:06 pm

Thank you Karen, I love that I have inspired you to try this : )

Yolanda Van Tonder link
30/5/2015 11:18:19 am

Thank you for the recipe! Instead of tamarind I used sumac and Moroccan spice! After preparing the dish I made a sauce of lubneh (thick Greek yogurt, mixed with thick cream and tahini , salt and pepper! To pour over! Then I sprinkled the whole dish with pomegranate seeds and more toasted pine nuts!!! It was delicious!

Lizzy
21/1/2016 12:04:15 am

Yolanda, thank you! xx

Bryant Bice
20/1/2016 11:59:51 pm

This dish was absolutely delicious. One of my favourite meals is Moussaka but this is even tastier. I am on cooking duties at the moment as my wife, Diana, has just had a shoulder operation. My specialty is salad, salad and more salad. Diana is so pleased that I now have a repertoire of two recipes. A big thank you from both of us for creating such a yummy dish.
ps Thank you for the aubergines too, they were especially tasty.

Lizzy
21/1/2016 12:03:59 am

Oh Bryant, hello there dear friend! You are MOST welcome. xxx


Comments are closed.

    Welcome...

    Üdvözölöm
    Photo of Liz Posmyk, Food Writer, Cook and Traveller

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Good Things is written and published by Liz Posmyk © 2011-2020.   All rights reserved.
Excerpts may be used provided that full and clear credit is given. Thank you.


Photos from alantankenghoe, riptheskull, David Jackmanson, Amani Hasan, SuntanMidori, oropeza, Annie Mole, Vegan Feast Catering, avlxyz, jeffreyw, mockstar, jenly, Syeefa Jay, pizzodisevo (therapy - terapia - Therapie), ginnerobot, cliff1066™, Jim, the Photographer
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