Turkish Baked Eggplant

Serves 4

Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

4 small to medium eggplants 

⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil 

1 medium red onion, finely chopped 

1 green capsicum, seeds removed, flesh chopped

½ tsp ground cumin 

½ tsp ground smoky paprika

3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced 

1x 400g tin chopped tomatoes 

1 tbsp tomato paste 

Salt and pepper 

Pinch dried oregano

2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley, to serve 

Steamed basmati rice, mixed with butter, to serve

Method

Make incisions lengthways along the middle of the eggplants, keep stem intact. Place eggplants flesh side up, sprinkle with salt, leave for 30 minutes, then pat all the liquid that has been extracted from the eggplant dry. 

Heat oven to 200°C and line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper. Drizzle about ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil around the tray, then place the eggplants flesh side down onto the tray and move them around to coat all pieces evenly with olive oil. Bake the eggplants for 30-40 minutes until the flesh is tender. 

Whilst the eggplants cook, heat the remaining extra virgin olive oil in a frypan on a medium heat. Add red onion and capsicum and cook for 8-10 minutes or until soft. Add the cumin, smoky paprika and cook for another 1-2 minutes until fragrant. 

Stir garlic, tomatoes and tomato paste with 1-2 tbsp water, season with salt and pepper and simmer for 20 minutes. 

Once the sauce and eggplants have been cooked, flip the eggplants so they are flesh-side up on the baking tray. Pry open the flesh slightly so the eggplants can hold the sauce well, and spoon tomato capsicum sauce into each eggplant. Sprinkle with dried oregano and chopped parsley and enjoy with buttery basmati rice.