Ottolenghi's Stuffed Eggplant with Chicken and Pine Nuts

If you've never blessed yourself with a meal from one of Yotam Ottolenghi's cookbooks, you're missing out.  Jerusalem was the first cookbook of Ottolenghi's that I owned, and when I first got it, I spent hours flipping through the colorful, complex pages, completely engrossed by the imagery and beauty of these dishes. 

My friend Alyx, who actually was part of the inspiration for this blog, made this dish the other night and I saw it on Instagram and knew I had to copy it. I've been seeing the luscious different varieties of eggplant on Sundays at the Farmer's Market but haven't found the perfect recipe for them until now. The only thing that I would adjust is halving the cinnamon, but that's only because I'm fairly sensitive to it.

Enjoy! 

Ingredients:

2 medium eggplants, halved lengthwise

6 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 lb ground chicken

7 tablespoons pine nuts

2/3 ounces flat-leaf parsley, chopped

3 teaspoons tomato paste

3 teaspoons sugar

2/3 cup water

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

4 cinnamon sticks

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the eggplant halves, skin side down, in a roasting pan large enough to accommodate them snugly. Brush the flesh with 4 tablespoons of the olive oil and season with 1 teaspoon salt and plenty of black pepper. Roast for about 20 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.

2. While the eggplants are cooking, you can start making the stuffing by heating the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large frying pan. Mix together the cumin, paprika, and ground cinnamon and add half of this spice mix to the pan, along with the onions. Cook over medium-high heat for about 8 minutes, stirring often, before adding the chicken, pine nuts, parsley, tomato paste, 1 teaspoon of the sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and some black pepper. Continue to cook and stir for another 8 minutes, until the meat is cooked.

3. Place the remaining spice mix in a bowl and add the water, lemon, juice, 1 teaspoon tomato paste, the remaining 2 teaspoons sugar, the cinnamon sticks, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; mix well. 

4. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Pour the spice mix into the bottom of the eggplant roasting pan. Spoon the chicken mixture on top of each eggplant. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil, return to the oven, and roast for 1 1/2 hours, by which point the eggplants should be completely soft and the sauce thick; twice during the cooking, remove the foil and baste the eggplants with the sauce, adding some water if the sauce dries out. Serve warm, not hot, or at room temperature.