Fethi Solaks Eggplant With Meat And Rice Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Lightly coat the bottom of a large ovenproof pot with olive oil and heat over medium heat. Add the eggplant and onions, season with salt, cover and cook, stirring or shaking the pot often, until the vegetables are tender, 6 to 7 minutes. If the vegetables stick to the pot, drizzle in more olive oil, as needed to loosen.
• Add the garlic, oregano, smoked paprika and crushed red pepper and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the rice and frozen vegetables and cook, stirring often, until the rice is lightly toasted, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes until well combined. Stir in the frozen vegetables and season with salt. Ladle in enough stock to cover, then add about another 3/4 inch on top (amount will vary, depending on the size of your pot). Stir just to combine and bring the mixture to a boil. Taste and add more salt, if necessary.
• Cover the pot and bake until all the liquid is absorbed into the rice, 12 to 15 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and fluff the rice using a long fork (such as one used to hold a roast while carving). Be gentle so as not to mush the eggplant.
• Place the pot back in the oven until the vegetables are warmed through, 4 to 5 minutes. Taste and add more salt, if needed. Garnish with chopped basil and drizzle olive oil over the top. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• To prepare the stuffing, cook the chopped onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-low heat. After about five minutes, when the onion starts to soften, add the chopped green peppers. Cook together for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft but not browned. Remove the vegetables from the pan with the oil in which they cooked, and set aside.
• Add ground lamb to the pan, and saute quickly, raising the heat and stirring constantly until the lamb is thoroughly browned. (If the lamb is especially lean, you may need to add a teaspoon or more of olive oil to the pan.) Scrape the lamb with its fat into a sieve to drain. Discard the fat and return the lamb to the pan, together with the chopped vegetables. Add the tomatoes, mint, cumin and red-pepper flakes to the pan and mix well. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium-low heat until the tomatoes have released all their liquid and the sauce has thickened. Do not let the sauce dry out. Taste and adjust the seasonings, adding salt and freshly ground black pepper if desired.
• Remove from heat and stir in the rice and parsley, mixing well. Set aside until ready to use. (The stuffing may be prepared a day or more ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to use, but bring it back to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe.)
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Rinse the eggplants. If they are the smaller Italian variety, leave them whole, but prick them with a fork in half a dozen places. If using larger eggplants, cut in half lengthwise and score the cut surfaces in a crosscross pattern no more than half an inch deep. Be careful not to cut through the skin of the eggplants. Paint the cut surfaces with a little olive oil. Place the eggplants on a lightly oiled baking sheet (cut side up if you are using large ones), and bake them for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until the flesh is soft. Set aside until they are cool enough to handle.
• Using a table knife and spoon, gently cut a slit down one side of the whole eggplants so that they can be opened up and the flesh can be pushed to either side. (Do not cut them into halves.) If using halved eggplants, break up the cooked flesh with the tines of a table fork to make room for the stuffing. Be careful not to cut through the eggplant skin. Pile several heaping tablespoonfuls of stuffing in the center of each eggplant.
• When the eggplants have been stuffed, set them in a lightly oiled rectangular roasting pan. Raise the oven heat to 450 degrees. Place one or two thin slices of tomato on top of each eggplant and drizzle a teaspoon of olive oil over each. Sprinkle a little grated cheese on top of the tomato slices. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan to a depth of about one-half inch, place in the oven, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are nicely browned.
• Set the eggplants aside until you are ready to serve them. For serving they should be warm or at room temperature, but not cold.

Steps:

• Heat oil in a heavy saucepan over medium high heat.
• Sauté onion and garlic 3-4 minutes or until onion is softened.
• Stir in next 4 ingredients (eggplant, tomato, bay leaf & thyme) and mix thoroughly.
• Cover saucepan and simmer 3 minutes.
• Stir in remaining ingredients (rice & chicken stock) and salt and pepper to taste and return to a boil.
• Immediately reduce heat to low.
• Cover and simmer 20-25 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.
• For vegetarian do not use Chicken stock.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Put bread crumbs in a bowl with enough water to cover; set aside to soak.
• Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet. Cook and stir ground beef, onion, and garlic in hot oil until the beef is completely browned and no large chunks remain, 7 to 10 minutes.
• Stir eggplant into ground beef mixture; cook and stir until eggplant is tender, about 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and set aside to allow mixture to cool.
• Drain excess water from bread crumbs and dump into a large bowl; add ground beef mixture, half the tomatoes, rice, Italian cheese blend, egg, and basil. Stir the mixture until ingredients are evenly mixed, adding more liquid from the tomatoes if too dry; season with salt and pepper. Fill the eggplant shells with the mixture and put into a large baking dish. Top with remaining tomatoes and cover dish with aluminum foil.
• Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, remove foil, and continue baking until beginning to brown around the edges, about 10 minutes more.

Steps:

• Brown ground beef with salt and pepper and half tsp italian seasoning. Add onion, celery and garlic and cook til soft.
• Stir in rice.*If rice was leftover and a little dry, add a little water or beef broth to refresh. Pour into bowl and set aside.
• Spray pan with cooking spray and add eggplant with a little salt and pepper and remaining italian seasoning. Cook until softened and slightly browned. Add marinara sauce and cook additional 3-5 minutes. Pour over meat and rice mixture and combine.
• Pour casserole into a 9x13 baking pan and top with cheese.
• Bake at 350 until warmed through and cheese is melted and bubbly about 20 minutes.

Steps:

• Cut the stem ends from the eggplants.
• Halve the eggplants lengthwise.
• Peel if desired; if the eggplant is fresh, there is no need to peel it.
• Use a spoon to scoop out the centers, leaving boat-shaped shells.
• Keep the flesh you scooped out to add to the stuffing.
• Sprinkle the shells with salt.
• Put them in a colander upside down and leave to drain for 1/2 hour.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees C.
• Prepare the stuffing: Add the rice to 3 cups boiling salted water and boil for 10 minutes until not quite tender.
• Rinse under cold running water and drain well.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a frying pan, add the onion and cook over low heat until soft but not brown.
• Leave to cool.
• Mix with the beef, parsley, cumin, turmeric and almonds.
• Chop the flesh removed from the eggplant.
• Heat 2 tablespoons oil, add the chopped eggplant and sprinkle with salt.
• Saute over medium-low heat, stirring often, until tender, about 10 minutes.
• Leave to cool and mix with the stuffing.
• Taste for seasoning; if you prefer not to taste a mixture that contains raw beef, broil or microwave a teaspoon of the mixture and taste it for seasoning.
• Rinse the eggplant shells, pat them dry and put them in a baking dish.
• Fill them with the stuffing.
• Mix the tomato paste with 1/4 cup water and spoon the mixture over the eggplant.
• Add enough water to the dish to cover the eggplant by one third.
• Add the garlic to the dish.
• Spoon 1 tablespoon oil over the eggplant.
• Cover and bake 15 minutes.
• Reduce the heat to 350 F and continue baking, covered, 15 more minutes.
• Uncover and bake, basting occasionally, 30 minutes or until the eggplant is very tender.