Roasted Eggplant Stuffed with Beef and Bulgur

Instructions

1. 1

   Pre-roast the eggplants

   Preheat the oven to 220 °C. Halve the eggplants lengthwise and score the flesh in a crosshatch pattern without cutting through the skin. Brush them with 15 ml of olive oil, season with 2 g of salt, and place them cut-side up on a baking sheet. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, until the flesh is tender and the edges begin to brown.

   
2. 2

   Cook the bulgur

   Put the bulgur in a small saucepan with 240 ml of water and 2 g of salt. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer over low heat for 10 to 12 minutes, until the water is absorbed. Remove from the heat and leave covered until ready to serve.

   
3. 3

   Prepare the beef mixture

   Finely chop the onion and mince the garlic. Heat the remaining 15 ml of oil in a frying pan, add the onion, and cook for 4 minutes, until softened. Add the beef and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, breaking it up with a wooden spoon and allowing it to brown in the pan rather than just turn gray. Stir in the garlic, cumin, cinnamon, and black pepper, cook briefly until fragrant, then add the passata. Simmer gently for 8 minutes.

   
4. 4

   Stuff and finish roasting the eggplants

   Remove the roasted eggplants from the oven and scoop out most of the flesh with a spoon, leaving firm edges about 1 cm wide. Chop the flesh and stir it into the beef mixture; cook for another 3 minutes. Divide the mixture between the eggplant halves and roast for a further 10 minutes at 220 °C.

   
5. 5

   Finish the yogurt and serve

   Stir the lemon juice into the yogurt. Chop the parsley. Fluff the bulgur with a fork and divide it among plates, then add the stuffed eggplant and lemon yogurt. Sprinkle with parsley and serve hot.