Eastern Aubergines

Ingredients

Cooks in:40 minutes (mostly unattended)        Serves:4

Aubergines

• 4 medium aubergines, halved lengthways
• Olive oil
• 1/2 cup full-fat Greek yoghurt

Mince

• ½ Tbsp olive oil
• ½ Tbsp butter
• 250 g beef, lamb or chicken mince
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• healthy natural sweetener of your choice, to taste
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 heaped cup roughly chopped tomatoes

To serve

• fresh mint
• 2 Tbsp slivered almonds or pine nuts, roasted
• pomegranate rubies
• 1 ripe avocado, sliced

What to do

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.

2. Drizzle the aubergines with a little olive oil and place on a nonstick baking tray. Place in the oven for 30–40 minutes.

3. While the aubergines are in the oven, prepare the mince. Heat the olive oil and butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat. When the butter starts to foam add the mince and cook for 4–5 minutes until golden. Add the remaining ingredients, except the tomatoes, and cook for a further 5 minutes until the onion has softened. Add the tomatoes, bring to a simmer and then leave to cook gently with the lid on for another 25–30 minutes.

4. When the aubergines are cooked, remove from the oven and serve immediately on warmed plates. Spoon over some of the cooked mince and yoghurt, then add mint leaves, nuts and pomegranate rubies to garnish. Serve the avocado slices on the side.

Note: Add lentils and grated carrot and/or courgette to the minced meat to make this recipe go further.
Make a double batch and freeze the extra for a speedier supper next time around.

Photo Credit @Curtis Gallon

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