Description
Mediterranean ground lamb and eggplant rice will become your favorite weeknight dinner. Tender lamb rice, crunchy pistachios, refreshing pomegranate seeds, fresh herbs and a yummy yogurt sauce make this dish a showstopper.
Ingredients
- 2 large eggplants
- 1 pound ground lamb
- 1 1/2 cups basmati Rice
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup pistachios (whole, peeled & unsalted)
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup (about one bunch) italian parsley
- 1/4 cup mint
- .5 tsp ground allspice
- .5 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp harissa
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
Yogurt Sauce
- 1 cup greek yogurt.
- 2 tbsps olive oil
- 1 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tbsps mint
- 1/4 cup parsley
- 2 tbsps pomegranate seeds
Instructions
Slice one eggplant width wise into quarter inch rounds. Slice the second eggplant into strips lengthwise and then dice.
Dice your shallots and garlic cloves. Half your cherry tomatoes.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
Drizzle olive oil on a cookie sheet. Place the eggplant rounds spread out on the sheet and then drizzle with a little more olive oil.
Place the cookie sheet in the center rack of the oven and bake for 30 minutes, turning once halfway through.
Cook your basmati rice as per package instructions.
Place your dutch oven on the burner over medium heat, drizzle a little olive oil then add the shallots and garlic. Sautée until transluscent (careful not to burn!)
Add the ground lamb, a pinch of salt, harissa, cinnamon and allspice. Break it up into chunks with a spoon and sautée until browned.
Remove the lamb from the dutch oven with a wooden spoon. Set aside in a bowl.
In the leftover meat juices, add the diced eggplant and one teaspoon salt. Sautée until soft and also slightly translucent. This should take about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Eggplant takes a while to cook but it is so worth it. There is nothing worse than undercooked and rubbery eggplant!
Add in the cherry tomatoes and sautée until they are soft. Add the lamb mixture back into the pot with the eggplant and cherry tomatoes. Remove the dutch oven from the heat.
By now, your rice should be fully cooked and fluffy. Fold in the cooked rice.
Sprinkle in the pistachios, mint and parsley. Mix together gently and even out the top so that it is a flat surface for the eggplant slices.
Remove the eggplant slices from the oven and arrange over the top.
Put the lid on the dutch oven and place, covered, in the oven for 10 minutes. Putting the lid on the dutch oven prevents the eggplant from drying out.
Meanwhile, let's make the yogurt sauce
Stir together the yogurt, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice, the remaining parsley, mint and pomegranate seeds. You are looking for a slightly runny consistency. Stir in more lemon juice if your greek yogurt is very thick.
When the time is up, carefully remove your dutch oven from the oven.
Serve immediately into bowls
Sprinkle the yogurt sauce as well as extra pistachios and pomegranate seeds over the top.
Bon Appétit!
Notes
Serving Suggestions
This is truly a complete meal, but you could serve it with:
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- A simple green salad with French vinaigrette
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- A glass of rosé from Provence
For dessert, my Mousse au Chocolat would be perfection.