Karnıyarık, Turkish Stuffed Aubergines

📝 Ingredients

• 4 aubergines (about 250 g each)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 400 g minced beef (5% fat)
• 1 brown onion (about 100 g)
• 1 green pepper (about 150 g)
• 3 tomatoes (about 120 g each)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tbsp tomato purée + 150 ml hot water
• 15 g fresh parsley
• 240 g long-grain rice
• 250 g natural yoghurt
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Baking tray + baking paper
• Ovenproof dish
• Large frying pan
• Saucepan with lid
• Peeler
• Cutting board and knife

📖 Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 220 °C. Wash the aubergines without removing the stalks and peel them in stripes with a vegetable peeler, leaving every other strip of skin. Prick them with a fork, brush with 1 tbsp olive oil and place them on the tray lined with baking paper.
2. Roast for 25 to 30 min, turning them halfway through, until nicely browned and the flesh feels soft when pressed. Meanwhile, peel and finely chop the onion, chop the garlic and cut the pepper into small dice, keeping 4 strips for the top.
3. Cut 2 tomatoes into small dice and the third into 4 thick slices. Heat the rest of the oil in the frying pan over medium heat and fry the onion and diced pepper for 5 min, until tender, then add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
4. Turn the heat up to high, add the minced beef and break it up with a spoon for 5 min, until no longer pink. Add the diced tomato, paprika, salt and pepper, then cook for 5 min over medium heat until the liquid has almost evaporated. Off the heat, stir in the chopped parsley.
5. Take out the aubergines and lower the oven to 200 °C. Arrange them in the baking dish, slit them lengthways without piercing the bottom or the ends, then push the flesh apart with 2 spoons to form a boat. Lightly salt the inside.
6. Generously fill each aubergine with the stuffing, pressing it down lightly, then top with a tomato slice and a strip of pepper. Dissolve the tomato purée in the 150 ml hot water and pour it into the bottom of the dish, around the aubergines.
7. Bake for 25 min at 200 °C: the tomato on top should be soft and the liquid slightly reduced. Meanwhile, rinse the rice, put it in 1.5 times its volume of salted water, bring to a boil, cover and cook for 12 to 15 min over very low heat, then leave to stand for 5 min off the heat.
8. Serve each aubergine drizzled with a little of the cooking juices, with the rice fluffed up with a fork and a generous spoonful of well-chilled plain yoghurt on the side, which mellows and freshens the dish.