Tepsi el Betinjan - Eggplant Casserole

This delicious casserole dish is time consuming to make, but is so delicious, it makes it all worth it. It also makes enough to serve the whole family. It is generally served with rice.

Ingredients:
1 large or 2 medium eggplants
1-1 1/2 pounds beef minced
2 medium onions sliced
1 clove of garlic minced
2 large tomatos sliced
1 green pepper sliced
1/2 cup chopped parsely
1 (6oz) can of tomato paste
2 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup vegetable oil (for frying eggplant)
1/2 teaspoon baharat (middle eastern mixed spices)
2 teaspoons salt plus more for sprinkling on eggplant and tomatoes.

Wash the eggplants, cut off the stems and discard. Peel stripes on the eggplants lengthwise. Cut the eggplant into 1/4 inch thick slices and salt them on both sides. Let the salted eggplant stand for 30 minutes to 1 hour to allow the moisture to sweat out. Rinse the salt off and dry the eggplant with a towel.

Heat about 1/4 cup of oil in a pan and brown the eggplant slices. You will need to add more oil in the pan each time you add new eggplant as the eggplant absorbs the oil. Put eggplant on paper towel after frying to soak up excess oil and set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in pan, add the sliced onions and minced garlic, sautee to a light golden brown. Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in pan and add minced meat, sautee until brown. Add 1 teaspoon of the salt, baharat, and chopped parsely. Mix well and set aside.

In a casserole dish (I use a 9 x 13 but other sizes are fine too) add the ingredients in the following order: meat mixture, onions, eggplant, green peppers, tomatoes. Sprinkle the tomatoes with a little salt.

In a bowl, mix water, tomato paste, lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix thoroughly until the tomato paste is dissolved. Pour the mixture over the casserole. Cover the casserole dish and cook in the oven at 400 degrees for about 1 hour or until all the vegetables are cooked. Serve with Basmati rice.