Name: Meat-Stuffed Eggplants in Lemon Tomato Sauce
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Ingredients: 3 long eggplants; 9 oz ground beef; 2 onions (chopped); 2 tbsp chopped mint; chopped leaves from 2 celery stalks; 1 tbsp baharat; salt and pepper; 3 cups water; 3 tbsp tomato paste; 2 tbsp sugar; ½ cup lemon juice; salt and pepper; 2 tbsp oil

How I make it

Mix the filling ingredients (there's no rice in this filling) and set aside in a covered bowl.
Peel the eggplants and cut each one in half crosswise.
With a melon baller or a round-tipped knife, hollow out the eggplants, leaving the sides and bottom a little under ½ inch (1 cm) thick.
Chop the scooped-out eggplant flesh and add it to the meat mixture.
Fill the eggplants with the meat, but not to the top, since the meat swells a little.
Make the sauce in a pot. Stir together all the sauce ingredients and bring to a boil.
Lay the eggplants in the pot (crosswise or lengthwise, depending on the pot), carefully so the filling stays in.
Return to a boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer for about 1 hour, until the eggplant is very soft and changes color slightly.

Meat-Stuffed Eggplants in Lemon Tomato Sauce Draft

What you need

Filling

Sauce

How I make it