Eggplant Skewers With Red Pepper Sauce
Can't bring yourself to make the same old chicken skewers again? Pick up a copy of Posh Kebabs, a new cookbook by recipe developer Rosie Reynolds, and refresh your repertoire with awesome and budget-friendly recipes for the delicious kebabs enjoyed around the world. Serve these eggplant skewers with a savory red pepper sauce for an unforgettable entree.
Juicy meatballs are sandwiched between discs of aubergine in this traditional Turkish kebab. The aubergines become soft and absorb all the delicious meat flavors, and look so fabulous reformed into their original shape. Bring these impressive kebabs to the table with a pot of the vibrant red pepper sauce.
Eggplant Skewers With Red Pepper Sauce
Prep Time
25
minutes
Cook Time
45
minutes
Servings
4
Total time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 small eggplants
- 14 ounces ground beef
- 2 onions
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon Turkish red pepper flakes
- Handful flat-leaf parsley
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 14-ounce can chopped tomatoes
- 6 red bell peppers from a jar
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- natural yogurt
- Turkish bread
Directions
- Cut each aubergine into 5 rounds, keeping the slices in the order they come in. Sprinkle the slices with a little salt and set aside for 5 minutes.
- Put the beef mince into a large bowl. Grate 1 of the onions into the beef with 2 of the garlic cloves, the oregano, pepper flakes, breadcrumbs, and most of the parsley. Season well. Mix with your hands for 2 minutes; this will stop the meat falling apart when cooking. Divide the meat into 8 equal portions and shape into balls.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Pat the aubergines dry on kitchen paper. Push a skewer up through the base of an aubergine so it goes through the centre, follow with a meatball, then another aubergine slice, then another meatball, squashing the aubergine slices and meatballs together slightly as you go, so that the balls look flatter, more like discs. Continue like this until you have skewered the whole aubergine. Repeat with the second aubergine and remaining 4 meatballs to make 2 skewers in total.
- Lightly grease a baking tray with oil. Lay the aubergine and meat skewers on the tray, and brush with a little more oil. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes until the aubergines are tender and the beef is cooked through, turning halfway through.
- Meanwhile, to make the red pepper sauce, heat the oil in a frying pan, roughly chop the remaining onion, and add to the pan. Cook on a medium heat for 5 minutes, or until starting to soften. Add the remaining garlic, the tomatoes, and red peppers. Bubble for 10 minutes until thickened, then season to taste. Serve the sauce spooned over the kebabs, sprinkle with the remaining parsley, and eat with a dollop of yogurt and Turkish bread.