Eggplant With Lentils

I occasionally pull up a Turkish cooking blog. The author and chef, Ozlem, conjures up a steady stream of diverse Turkish recipes. Some multi-step ones are delicious but too tedious to repeat. Manti, small dumplings filled with meat, is one of them. They took me forever and a day! But this simple eggplant and lentil braise takes a couple of blinks of the eye. All you need is of course eggplants, lentils, onions, garlic, peppers, tomatoes and some dried mint. I made this dish as part of Geets' birthday feast, alongside butternut squash and grilled lamb chops.

Thinly sliced eggplant is quickly sauteed till brown. You do not have to cook the slices, just flash saute them till golden brown. Slices are lightly sprayed with oil on both sides, allowing the slices to brown fast with absorbing a ton of olive oil. Puy lentils are semi cooked in boiling water for minutes. Sliced onion and garlic are sauteed in olive oil till soft. Lentils, peppers, tomatoes, dried  mint, salt, sugar are sauteed with the onions for a few minutes. I use mini orange and red peppers, but you could use regular red peppers. Fresh tomatoes could be used, but I find tomatoes in juice from the can adds body and flavor to the sauce. Dried mint could be found in an Indian or Middle Eastern grocery store. Eggplant slices are nestled into this mix. A little water is added to the pan and the vegetables braise stove top for thirty to forty minutes till they meltingly soft. It is a one saucepan meal, a delicious side to any meal.


EGGPLANT WITH LENTILS
Adapted from Ozlemsturkishtable.com
Serves 3-4 as a side

1 large Eggplant
1/2 cup Puy Lentils
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Onions
4 Garlic cloves
2 large Red or Orange Peppers
1 14 oz can chopped Tomatoes
1 teaspoon Dried Mint
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 teaspoon Sugar
Mint leaves for garnishing



Wash lentils and cover with 3 inches of water. 

Place lentils on a high flame and cook for 15 minutes. Drain lentils and keep aside.

Use a vegetable peeler to make vertical peels on the eggplant. Space the strips an inch apart. 

Cut the eggplant into 1/4 inch slices. 

Place a large nonstick saucepan over high heat. 

Spray the saucepan with canola or olive oil spray.

Place eggplant slices in the pan in a single layer. Cook on high heat till the bottoms are golden brown. It should take a few minutes. 

Spray the tops of the slices with cooking spray and flip them over. Cook till brown. Remove slices on to a plate. Repeat process with the rest of the slices.

Peel and slice onion and garlic cloves.

Cut red pepper into vertical slices 1 inch thick.

Pour the olive oil in the saucepan. 

When it shimmers add onion and garlic and saute till soft. 

Add tomatoes, peppers, lentils, dried mint, salt and sugar to onions. Saute for a few minutes.

Nestle eggplant slices into lentil mix. Make sure that the lentils cover some of the eggplant slices.

Pour 1 cup of water around the edges of the pan, cover saucepan and simmer over a low flame for 30-40 minutes. 

Uncover pan, top with fresh mint and serve as a side with meat.

Pin It