Sheikh El Mahshi

Ingredients

• 8 small aubergines, about 1kg
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 400g minced lamb
• 1 onion
• 3 tbsp pine nuts
• 1 1/2 tsp Lebanese seven spice
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 1/4 tsp fine salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 400g passata
• 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
• 250ml chicken or lamb stock
• Vermicelli rice, to serve

Before you cook

• Peel the aubergines in stripes, leaving alternating bands of skin so they hold their shape
• Chop the onion finely
• Whisk the passata, pomegranate molasses and stock together with a quarter teaspoon of the salt

Steps

1. Heat your oven to 210C.
2. Rub the aubergines all over with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and lay them in a roasting tin.
3. Roast them for 25 minutes, turning once, until the flesh has collapsed and a knife slides in without resistance.
4. Warm the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan over medium heat and fry the pine nuts for 2 minutes until golden, then lift them out.
5. Cook the chopped onion in the same pan for 7 minutes, until soft and just starting to colour.
6. Add the minced lamb, seven spice, cinnamon, remaining salt and the pepper.
7. Fry for 8 minutes, breaking up the meat, until it is browned and the pan has gone dry.
8. Stir the pine nuts back into the meat and take the pan off the heat.
9. Slit each roasted aubergine lengthways down the middle without cutting through the base, and press the sides apart to open a cavity.
10. Pack the lamb mixture generously into each aubergine, mounding it above the cut.
11. Sit the stuffed aubergines side by side in a baking dish and pour the tomato mixture around them, not over the filling.
12. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes, until the sauce has reduced by about a third and darkened at the edges.
13. Rest the dish for 10 minutes, then serve with vermicelli rice and the sauce spooned over.