← Nouns Cooking · Lebanese & Turkish

Ingredients

• 4 medium aubergines
• 1 tbsp salt, for the aubergines
• 100 ml sunflower oil, for frying
• 1 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 Onion, finely chopped
• 300 g lamb or beef mince
• 3 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 2 long green peppers, 1 chopped, 1 cut into 4 strips
• 2 Tomato, 1 finely chopped, 1 sliced
• 1½ tbsp Tomato purée (paste), divided
• 1 tsp Pul biber (Aleppo-style pepper flakes) (optional)
• 15 g Parsley, chopped
• 200 ml hot water
• ½ tsp Black pepper

Method

1. Peel the aubergines in stripes, leaving the stalks on. Sprinkle with the salt and leave for 20 min, then rinse and pat completely dry.
2. Heat the sunflower oil in a wide frying pan over medium-high heat and fry the aubergines for 10–12 min, turning, until golden all over and soft when pressed. Drain on kitchen paper.
3. In another pan, cook the onion in the olive oil over medium heat for 5 min. Add the mince and cook for 6–8 min, breaking it up, until browned.
4. Stir in the garlic, chopped pepper, chopped tomato and 1 tbsp of the tomato paste. Cook for 5 min until thick, then season with salt, pepper and pul biber and stir in most of the parsley.
5. Heat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Set the aubergines in a baking dish, slit each one lengthways without cutting through, and gently open it into a boat. Pack in the filling and top each with a tomato slice and a pepper strip.
6. Mix the remaining tomato paste into the hot water with a pinch of salt and pour it around the aubergines. Bake for 25–30 min until the peppers are blistered and the aubergines collapse when touched. Scatter with parsley and serve with rice and yogurt.

Tips

• Fry rather than roast if you can: it gives the classic creamy, almost buttery flesh.
• For a vegetarian version, swap the mince for chopped mushrooms and chickpeas.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Turkey's For Life Ozlem's Turkish Table