Stuffed Aubergine with Minced Lamb reflects my love for stuffing vegetables — a time-honoured Mediterranean pastime. This version, loosely inspired by Greek cooking, is wonderfully simple and deeply satisfying. The minced lamb from Swaledale delivers a rich, savoury depth that really sets this dish apart. With a few carefully chosen herbs and spices to enhance the meat, and a slick layer of béchamel finished with golden, gratinated cheese, it’s comfort food with just the right amount of elegance.
Serves: 3-4
Prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
For the Béchamel
Method
Start with the Aubergines
- Preheat your oven to 180°C.
- Half the aubergines, lengthways. Lay them in a roasting tray or oven-proof dish and season the flesh well with salt. Drizzle over a little olive oil and bake in the oven for around 25-minutes.
- While the aubergines are baking, make a start on the filling. In a heavy-bottomed pan over a high heat, brown off the lamb mince. Do this in batches if necessary. We want to get good colour on the mince.
- Once browned, remove the mince from the pan, leaving behind as much fat as possible. Turn the heat down to medium.
- Into this fat, add the cumin seeds and chilli flakes and fry for a moment, so they begin to release their aroma. Then add the onion and garlic. Season with salt and cook with a lid on, stirring regularly, for about 15-minutes – until soft and just beginning to colour.
- Remove the aubergines from the oven and allow to cool a little before scooping out their flesh. Be careful not to be too barbaric when doing this as you don’t (ideally) want to break the skins. After all, the flesh is being stuffed back into them later.
- Add the lamb back into the onions and garlic, along with the aubergine flesh, tomato purée, mint, and the dried oregano. Keep the heat low and cook for 20-minutes. If, at any stage, it is looking too dry, then add a splash of water to loosen.
- Take off the heat and stir in the breadcrumbs.
- Check the seasoning and adjust as necessary.
For the Béchamel
- Tip the milk, rosemary, garlic, and a good grate of nutmeg into a pan. On a low heat bring it to a simmer. Once simmering, remove from the heat and set aside. This is to infuse the milk with those flavours. Leave it for about 15-minutes.
- In a new pan melt the butter. Once melted, add the flour and cook out on a medium heat for 2-minutes, stirring regularly. This creates a roux.
- Pass the milk through a sieve and return to the heat.
- Pour about a third of the milk into the roux and stir with a whisk until combined. It will thicken very quickly.
- Continuing to stir with the whisk add another third of the milk. Then the final third, again stirring with the whisk.
- Keep the heat low and allow the béchamel to cook for about 15-20 minutes.
- Season with salt, to taste.
To Bake
- Spoon the lamb stuffing into the aubergine skins, distributing equally between the four skins.
- Cover each aubergine in béchamel and grate over as much Pecorino as you see fit.
- Bake at 180°C for 30-minutes.
- A little salad of picked mint and thinly sliced red onions, all dressed in a touch of lemon juice and olive oil, makes a great accompaniment.
