Ingredients

The following ingredients have 4 Servings
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Instruction

  • Start by making your tomato sauce. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and salt and cook until the onion is translucent, then add the crushed tomatoes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring, for 10-15 minutes. If you like your sauce extra smooth, let it cool slightly, the puree in a blender or food processor. 
  • For the merguez spice blend, combine the Aleppo pepper, fennel seed, ground cumin, ground cardamom, caraway seeds, and coriander seeds in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle and grind to a powder. Store in a covered jar.
  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Score the cut sides of the eggplant and salt well. Arrange cut side down on a baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes, or until tender. Cool slightly, then scoop the flesh into a bowl and mash. Set the skins aside. 
  • Then make the filling. Mix together the lamb, grated onion and garlic, fresh herbs, 2 tsp salt, and 1 Tbsp of the merguez spice blend in a bowl and set aside. 
  • Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bell peppers and a pinch of salt. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly, then add the chopped onion and minced garlic and cook until translucent, about 8 more minutes. Add the meat mixture and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring to break up the meat. Add the tomato paste and crushed tomatoes. Mix well. Cook until the meat is no longer pink and the tomatoes have cooked down a bit, 3-5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the mashed eggplant flesh. 
  • Spoon the filling into the eggplant skins and top with pine nuts. Pour the tomato sauce into a baking dish. Place the stuffed eggplant on top. Bake until heated through and the pine nuts are toasted, about 10 minutes. Spoon the sauce over the eggplant and serve.