I love trying new recipes and experimenting in the kitchen and this is a new dish to me but one of my husband’s family favourites. My mother-in-law recently came to stay with us and she’s an amazing home cook who makes absolutely everything from scratch and even though we don’t share a common language, we spent hours together in the kitchen preparing some of her traditional North African dishes using sign language and gestures to communicate. This dish was one of my favourites so I thought I’d share it with you and hope you enjoy.
Ingredients (this made 3 portions)
- 2 large aubergines
- 300g of extra lean beef mince
- 1 onion (finely chopped or whizzed up in a food chopper)
- 3 tbsp of tomato puree (approx 50g)
- spray oil (you can use low cal or a spray olive oil)
- 300ml of water
- 1 tsp of garlic
- 1 tsp of chilli powder
- 1 tsp of tumeric
- 1/2 tsp of ginger
- 1/2 tsp of black pepper
- 1/2 tsp of white pepper
Method
Step 1
Slice your aubergines length wise, aim to be about 1 cm thick
Step 2
Mine weren’t all uniform but this is the sort of thickness you want
Step 3
Spray a non-stick frying pan (or pans) with your oil and place on a low heat and cook each side of the aubergine for about 8 mins
Step 4
This is what you are aiming for – they are still quite firm at this point but starting to brown
Step 5
Once they are cooked, remove from the pan whilst still hot, place on a plate and then cover them – the steam and heat will then soften them up to make them easier to roll
Step 6
I left them like this whilst I did the next stages of the dish so about 10-15 mins
Step 7
Start your sauce – finely chop or blitz up your onion – the smaller the better
Step 8
Add a splash of water to a medium sized saucepan, add the onion and the spices as listed above and place on a low heat
Step 9
Cook for a few minutes and then add the tomato puree and 300ml of water and leave to simmer for about 15-20 minutes – it should start to thicken up.
Step 10
Meanwhile, prepare your mincemeat filling – add the spices above (leaving out the garlic)
Step 11
Give it a good mix with your hands to evenly distribute all of the spices
Step 12
Take small balls of the mincemeat and shape into oblongs – I make them about the size of half of my index finger – you don’t want to make them too big!
Step 13
Get your soft and cooled aubergine slices and place one of your mince oblongs on the end of a piece of aubergine and then roll it up quite tightly.
Step 14
They should look like this!
Step 15
Place in a large lidded saucepan with the join to the bottom (this stops then unrolling during the next stage)
Step 16
Place the rolls in a single layer and if you’ve got any leftover mince, make little meat balls and throw them in too!
Step 17
Gently pour over your sauce evenly covering all of the aubergines
Step 18
Put the lid on the saucepan and cook for about 25 mins on the lowest heat.
To Serve
You can serve it exactly like this or you can add an extra stage which is sprinkling over some reduced fat cheddar and then putting under the grill to melt. (I had to transfer to a different dish to do this as my pan wasn’t grill friendly so did mean I created extra washing up – but it was worth it for the cheese!
I served it with a side of steamed broccoli the first time I made it and with a big leafy green salad the second time.
As a weight loss coach, I love helping people discover the best ways to reach their individual goals – from working on their mindsets and habits to help with nutrition and healthy eating advice and recipes. If you would like to find out more about my 1-2-1 coaching programme or how I can help you, please do get in touch.
Email me or phone/message: 07834 442607
Join my free Facebook weight loss support group for weekly live sessions, more tips and strategies and motivation: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theweightlossgroup