zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzGreek-Style Stuffed Aubergines with Soya Mince Recipe

Ingredients

2 aubergines
2 tsp olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 onion
4 tbsp cold water
2 garlic cloves
200g soya mince
A handful of thyme
1 cinnamon stick
400g chopped tomatoes
300ml boiling water
75g wholewheat couscous
1 lemon
50g peppery salad mix

Prep: 15 mins | Cook: 50 mins

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Method

1. Preheat your oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6. Fill and boil the kettle. Slice the aubergines in half lengthways, then score a criss-cross pattern into the flesh. Don’t slice too deeply – just ½-1cm. Pop the aubergine halves in a roasting tin, cut-side-up and brush them with 1/2 tsp olive oil each. Season with salt and pepper. Slide into the oven and bake for 30 mins, till the aubergine halves are tender.

2. While the aubergines bake, peel and finely chop the onion. Put a medium pan on a medium heat and add the onion with 4 tbsp water. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper and fry, stirring frequently, for 5 mins till the onion starts to soften.

3. While the onion fries, peel and crush or grate the garlic. Stir the garlic into the onion and cook, stirring, for 1 min. Add the soya mince and drop in most of the thyme (save a sprig for garnishing) and the cinnamon stick. Tip in the chopped tomatoes and pour in 150ml hot water from the kettle. Stir, pop on a lid and simmer for 10 mins, stirring every so often. The sauce will thicken as it cooks.

4. Take the aubergines out of the oven. Use a spoon to scoop out the soft flesh, leaving a thin wall of flesh still in the skins. Add the aubergine flesh to the mince and stir to mix. Taste and add a pinch of salt or pepper if you think it needs it.

5. Lift the thyme sprigs and cinnamon stick out of the pan and discard them. Spoon the soya mince into the aubergine shells. Return to the oven and bake for 20 mins till golden and a little crisp.

6. While the stuffed aubergines bake, tip the couscous into a bowl and grate in the lemon zest. Pour in 150ml hot water from the kettle and stir. Cover with a plate and set aside for 10 mins.

7. Fluff the couscous with a fork and divide it between 2 warm plates. Sit the aubergines on top, along with handfuls of the salad leaves. Serve garnished with thyme leaves and with the lemon sliced into wedges for squeezing.

Hat

Rating

Not a fan of this recipe. It made far to much soya mince and needed extra tinned tomatoes. Also the texture of the soya mince is the same as the couscous so the two together was not a good match. Won’t make again.

Feep

The measurements in this recipe are all wrong. I had to add 300ml of water to the main soya mince part along with 2 cans of chopped tomato rather than one and I also added some passata. It went down well with family but I would be interested how others found it as I make lots of able and Cole recipes but the measurements above were unworkable.