A meaty, Middle Eastern style stuffed vegetable feast finished off with an ice-cold berry dessert
There’s something delightfully retro about stuffed vegetables. They take me back to Delia Smith’s iconic Summer Collection cookbook, which blew my tiny mind when it came out in my early teens. Too sheltered to know about the e rage that had inspired Delia, I delved into my mother’s vegetable crisper with reverence, stuffing courgettes, tomatoes and aubergines with a zeal that had escaped me at school. How could the roasting, reducing and condensing of ingredients create such explosions of flavour? I was hooked. I have recently been returning to this technique with glee, a simple solution for turning seasonal vegetables into feasts.
Serve these richly seasoned aubergines with warm, herb-flecked bulgur, rice or flatbreads, and a parsley and onion salad.
Prep 15 minSalt 20 min
Cook 1 hr 30 min
Serves 4-6
5 medium aubergines
Salt and black pepperOlive oil
400g lamb mince
2 small onions, peeled and finely chopped2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed1 green pepper, halved, stalk, pith and seeds removed and discarded, flesh cut into 1cm dice200g cherry tomatoes, chopped 2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 tsp aleppo chilli
2 tbsp Turkish red pepper paste, or tomato paste400g tin finely chopped tomatoes1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, picked and chopped 50g unsalted butter
200g Greek yoghurt, to serve
Cut the aubergines in half lengthways, then slice a lattice of crisscrosses over the flesh of each cut side, being careful not to cut down through the skin. Lay the aubergines flesh side up on a baking dish, sprinkle generously with salt, and leave for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7.
Using kitchen paper, blot away any moisture from the aubergine flesh, then drizzle over a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Roast for 30 minutes, until browned and softened, then remove and leave to cool.
Meanwhile, make the filling. Put a large pan on a medium-high heat, then add a tablespoon of olive oil and the lamb. Season generously with salt and pepper and saute for seven to eight minutes, until the meat starts to catch and brown. Stir in the onions and garlic, turn down the heat down to medium and cook, stirring often, for 10-12 minutes, until the onions have softened.
Add the green pepper, cherry tomatoes, cumin, cinnamon and one teaspoon of aleppo chilli, and cook for another 10 minutes. Add the pepper paste and half the chopped tomatoes, and cook for a further 20 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then stir in half the chopped parsley.
Carefully spoon the filling over each aubergine half. Mix the remaining half-tin of chopped tomatoes with 200ml boiling water and season with salt and pepper. Pour the mixture around the aubergines in the tin, cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further 10 minutes.
In the last 10 minutes of cooking, put the butter in a small saucepan over a medium-high heat. Once sizzling, cook for 30 seconds before adding a generous pinch of salt and the remaining two teaspoons of aleppo chilli. Pour the butter over the baked aubergines, sprinkle on the remaining parsley and serve with the yoghurt.
An easy, no-churn ice-cream to finish; the tahini adds a nutty, salty note against the backdrop of intense berry deliciousness.
Prep 5 min
Cook 25 min
Freeze 4 hr+
Serves 4-6
200g mixed berries (blackcurrants, redcurrants, raspberries, say), thoroughly washed2 tbsp runny honey
100ml tahini
2 tsp vanilla essence150ml condensed milk
200g greek yoghurt
400ml double cream
To serveYour favourite biscuits2 tsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)
