Food: Recipe For AreToo

Lizzy's great pix of AreToo

If you haven't yet met AreToo, the delightful not-so-little droid resides over at 922 Cats. Check out his portly jabot-ed form and decide if this recipe is right for him:

Split Tummies

Ingredients

1/4 cup pine nuts
2 Tbsp olive oil (regular, not extra-virgin)
8 oz ground lamb
1 white onion, ~6 oz
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch ground cloves
Pinch grated nutmeg
2 tsp tomato paste
Big handful flat-leaf Italian parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
8 small Italian eggplants
3-4 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
1 red and 1 green bell pepper
1 or more jalapeno chillies to taste
Pinch of sugar
2 Roma tomatoes

Cut the onion into two unequal pieces, one approximately 2 oz or less. Peel, and finely mince the smaller piece. Chop the remaining piece. Finely mince the garlic, jalapenos, and parsley. Skin, seed, and dice tomatoes.

In a dry skillet, toast the cumin seeds. Remove from stove when browned and fragrant. Set aside to cool, then grind in a clean coffee-grinder (preferably one reserved for grinding spices exclusively). Clean skillet, return to heat and toast the pine nuts, stirring and tossing constantly to avoid burning. Remove from stove and let cool. Return skillet to pan and brown the meat until it is no longer pink. Remove from heat. Drain off excess fat in the pan, then add a little olive oil (just enough to cook the minced onion, approximately 1/2 Tbsp). Add minced onion, stirring till it becomes transparent and smells cooked. Add the meat, stir well, add 1/2 tsp. cumin powder, stir. Add cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, stir to mix, and add a little water, if needed, to keep from sticking. Mix in half the jalapeno, half the tomato paste, half the diced tomatoes, the pine nuts, and quarter of the parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir till well mixed and set aside.

Using a vegetable or potato peeler, peel three or four strips of skin from the eggplant so that it has a striped appearance. Soak in salted water to cover, with a plate on top so they stay submerged. Let soak 30 min, then drain and pat dry with paper towels or kitchen towels.

Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large flat skillet medium high and when the oil is hot, but not smoking, add the eggplants, cover, and cook for about 10 minutes, turn, and cook 10 minutes more. The eggplant should be a rich brown. Remove from heat and drain on paper towels.

Clean skillet, add remaining oil and chopped onion, stir for about two minutes or till golden and opaque. Add garlic, bay leaf, remaining jalapeno, stir well, then add bell peppers. Cook uncovered approximately five minutes, stirring, until vegetables are soft. Add half the diced tomatoes and stir. Dissolve remaining tomato paste and sugar in half a cup of hot water, add to skillet and cook till vegetables make a sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Slit eggplants to make a cavity and stuff with approximately 2 Tbsp meat mixture.

Preheat oven 375F. Place eggplants in a baking dish in a single layer, pour vegetable sauce over, and bake approximately 45 minutes. Serve, garnished with parsley.

No, AreToo, you mayn't have any. You probably wouldn't like it anyway. Have some FancyFeast instead.

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