Eggplant lamb
 
Eggplant lamb 2
 
Ingredients:
4 medium eggplants
6 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tbsp sweet paprika
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 medium onions, finely chopped
500 g ground lamb
50 g almonds, coarsely chopped (the original recipe states for pine nuts)
20 g flat-leaf parsley + a little bit more for garnish
1 big tbsp tomato paste
3 tsp superfine sugar
150 ml water
juice of 1 lemon
salt and freshly ground pepper
the seeds of 1 pomegranate
Preheat the oven to 425˚F/220˚C.
 
Place the eggplant halves, skin side down, in a roasting pan large enough to hold them snugly. Brush the flesh with 4 tbsp of the oil and season with salt and black pepper. Roast for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let them cool slightly.
While the eggplants are cooking, you can start by making the lamb stuffing by heating the two remaining tbsp of oil in a large frying pan. Mix together the cumin, paprika and ground cinnamon and add half of this spice mixture to the pan, along with the onions. Cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes, stirring often, before adding the lamb, almonds, parsley, tomato paste, 1 tsp of the sugar, 1 tsp salt, and some black pepper. Continue to cook and stir for 8 minutes more, until the meat is cooked. Mix in half of the lemon juice.
Place the remaining spice mixture in a bowl and add the water, the remaining half of the lemon juice, the remaining 2 tsp of sugar and 1/2 tsp salt. Mix well.
Reduce the oven to 375˚F/195˚C. Pour the spice mixture into the bottom of the eggplant roasting pan. Spoon the lamb mixture on top of each eggplant.  Cover the pan tightly with aluminium foil, return to the oven and roast for 1 1/2 hours, by which point the eggplants should be soft and the sauce thick. Twice during cooking, remove the foil and baste the eggplants with the sauce. Add some water if sauce dries out.
Serve warm, not hot, or at room temperature. Before serving, sprinkle the eggplants with some chopped parsley and the pomegranate seeds.

Buon Appetito