The farmers market has been full of early falls bounty lately including lots of eggplants, tomatoes and peppers. I really enjoy eggplant and I am always on the lookout for new ways to use it and I recently came across a really interesting sounding recipe for kebabs wrapped in eggplant baked in tomato sauce on Elra's Cooking. Kebab is a variety of meat dishes in Mediterranean cuisine where in this case it is a spiced ground lamb with lots of herbs that is wrapped in eggplant and then roasted in tomato sauce. One thing that I have always found interesting in Mediterranean is the use of cinnamon in meat dishes and I was kind of expecting/hoping to see it in this recipe and when I did not I added some for that hint of exotic. The next change that I made to the recipe was to broil the eggplant slices rather than frying them in oil to lighten up the dish a bit. For the tomato sauce I used a simple marinara sauce recipe except that I roasted the tomatoes first to add even more flavour. Though the eggplant wrapped kebabs took a bit of time to make, everything was pretty easy and they turned out great! I really like the way that the tomato slices on top roasted down to perfection, caramelizing slightly and concentrating their flavour. The eggplant worked really well as a wrap and meat on the inside was nice and moist and tender and tasty. The roasted tomato sauce finished off the dish nicely adding a ton of flavour. I served the kebab wrapped in eggplant with some feta and some crusty bread.
Eggplant Wrapped Kebabs Baked in Tomato Sauce
(makes 6+ servings)Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
4 eggplants (sliced lengthwise to 1/8 inch)
salt
olive oil
2 green peppers (sliced into 1 inch strips)
2 tomatoes (sliced)
kebab meat (see below)
1 batch of your favourite tomato sauce (I used a roasted tomato marinara sauce)
4 eggplants (sliced lengthwise to 1/8 inch)
salt
olive oil
2 green peppers (sliced into 1 inch strips)
2 tomatoes (sliced)
kebab meat (see below)
1 batch of your favourite tomato sauce (I used a roasted tomato marinara sauce)
Directions:
1. Salt the eggplant and let sit for 30 minutes.
2. Rinse the salt from the eggplant and pat dry.
3. Brush the eggplant with olive oil and broil in the oven until tender, about 3-5 minutes per side.
4. Place some of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a baking dish.
5. Place one slice of eggplant across another and place some of the kebab meat in the middle.
6. Wrap both sides of the lower eggplant up and over followed by the sides of the outer slice of eggplant.
7. Place the eggplant wrapped kebab parcels into the baking dish and top with more tomato sauce, slices of tomatoes and pepper.
8. Bake in a preheated 375F oven until the tomatoes and peppers are nice an roasted and the sides are bubbling, about 45-60 minutes.
1. Salt the eggplant and let sit for 30 minutes.
2. Rinse the salt from the eggplant and pat dry.
3. Brush the eggplant with olive oil and broil in the oven until tender, about 3-5 minutes per side.
4. Place some of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a baking dish.
5. Place one slice of eggplant across another and place some of the kebab meat in the middle.
6. Wrap both sides of the lower eggplant up and over followed by the sides of the outer slice of eggplant.
7. Place the eggplant wrapped kebab parcels into the baking dish and top with more tomato sauce, slices of tomatoes and pepper.
8. Bake in a preheated 375F oven until the tomatoes and peppers are nice an roasted and the sides are bubbling, about 45-60 minutes.
Spiced Lamb Kebab Meat
Ingredients:
1 pound ground lamb
1/2 cup herbs such as parsley, mint, cilantro (chopped)
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 onion (chopped)
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
salt and pepper
1 pound ground lamb
1/2 cup herbs such as parsley, mint, cilantro (chopped)
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 onion (chopped)
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
salt and pepper
Directions:
1. Mix everything, cover and let sit in the fridge while you prepare the eggplant.
1. Mix everything, cover and let sit in the fridge while you prepare the eggplant.
Similar Recipes:
Melitzanes Papoutsakia (Stuffed Eggplant)
Lahanodolmades (Stuffed Cabbage)
Moussaka
Greek Meatballs (Keftedes) in a Pita with Tzatziki Sauce
Gemista (Greek Stuffed Tomatoes and Peppers)
Imam Baildi
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