Baked Eggplant Boats Stuffed with Spiced Beef and Tomato

What you need

• 4 eggplants, long and slim, about 250 g each
• 120 ml (1/2 cup) sunflower oil, for frying
• 2 onions, medium, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 300 g (10 oz) ground beef
• 3 tomatoes, medium, 2 finely chopped and 1 cut into 8 wedges
• 4 mild green peppers, long and slim
• 1 handful flat-leaf parsley, leaves finely chopped
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 250 ml (1 cup) water
• 1 pinch sugar
• salt, 1 tbsp for the soaking water, plus more to taste
• black pepper, freshly ground, to taste

Method

Restated from the original video

1. 1

   Peel the eggplants in lengthwise stripes, leaving a strip of skin between each peeled strip. Keep the stems on.

2. 2

   Dissolve 1 tbsp salt in a large bowl of water. Submerge the eggplants, weigh them down with a plate, and soak for 30 min. Drain and pat completely dry.

3. 3

   Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Fry the eggplants in batches, turning, until browned on all sides and starting to soften, 8-10 min per batch. Move to a paper-towel-lined plate.

4. 4

   In the same oil, fry the peppers for 2 min until blistered. Set aside, then pour off all but 2 tbsp of the oil.

5. 5

   Cook the onions in the pan over medium heat until soft and golden, 8 min. Add the garlic and stir for 1 min.

6. 6

   Add the beef and break it up with a spoon. Cook until browned and cooked through with no pink left, 8-10 min. Season with salt and black pepper.

7. 7

   Stir in the chopped tomatoes and cook until the liquid has cooked off and the mixture looks jammy, 5-6 min. Stir in half the parsley and take off the heat.

8. 8

   Heat the oven to 180 °C (350 °F).

9. 9

   Whisk the tomato paste with the water, sugar and a pinch of salt.

10. 10

    Lay the eggplants side by side in a baking dish. Slit each lengthwise down the middle, stopping 2 cm (3/4 in) from both ends, and press the flesh apart with a spoon to make a pocket.

11. 11

    Season the inside of each eggplant lightly with salt. Mound the beef filling into the pockets, then top each with 2 tomato wedges and 1 pepper.

12. 12

    Pour the tomato paste mixture around the eggplants.

13. 13

    Bake until the eggplants are very soft and the sauce has thickened slightly, about 30 min.

14. 14

    Rest 5 min, scatter the remaining parsley on top and serve hot, spooning the pan sauce over each boat.

Imported from vpuzo.com. Recipe Grab pulled out what you need to cook it; the video stays where its author put it.