There’s this great episode of This American Life from a few years ago, where Sarah Koenig interviews her mother about her list of the seven things you’re not supposed to talk about at a dinner party. One or two things on the list are clearly inappropriate for dinner conversation, but most things made her list because they’re just so boring to talk about. So naturally, I thought it would be a great idea to write a blog post that encompasses (not one but) two of the things we’re not supposed to talk about (in this case, diet and health)—and hopefully you’ll find me interesting anyway. So, here it goes—I’m Kathryn, and I’m a Middle Eastern food blogger who can’t eat eggplant.
When I was a kid, I used to eat eggplant all the time—we would always order baba ganoush with our takeout, and every summer my mom would grill up platters of portobello mushrooms, zucchini, and big thick-cut eggplant slices. When I was a vegetarian in high school, I ate even more eggplant (mostly because I thought it was a good source of vegetarian protein, because I was kind of clueless). And then eventually, it started making me really sick whenever I would eat it. My throat would get itchy, my tongue would swell, and my whole body would rebel. So finally, I had to give it up for good, and I haven’t had any in over a decade.
This means that recipe developing with eggplant is very hit or miss (and not blogging about eggplant is out of the question, because it’s an important part of the cuisine). Sometimes I make something with eggplant, feed it to friends and family, and they love it from the start. In this case, I would make it a couple more times with their minor suggestions, until they let me know it’s perfect, and then the final recipe would make it to my blog. But if an eggplant recipe doesn’t work out the first time, then it is simply dead on arrival, because there’s no way for me to figure out how to fix something I can’t actually taste. One of the best ways to avoid this DOA scenario is to stick to family recipes, which are already vetted by generations. And this, sheikh mahshi, is one of those recipes.
Sheikh mahshi (also know as sheikh el-mahshi) are not only beautiful but they’re also delicious, or so I’ve been told (I did taste the stuffing before it went into the eggplants, and it is absolutely scrumptious). My grandmother taught me how she makes sheikh mahshi, and I barely tinkered with her method to come up with the recipe below. It’s my husband’s favorite thing my grandmother makes, and I hope everyone who can consume eggplant enjoys this dish a little extra for me.
stuffed eggplant | sheikh mahshi
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 main servings, 12 side servings
Ingredients
- 2 pounds 5 ounces of mini eggplants (about 12 of them)
- special equipment: zucchini corer *
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons butter (divided in half)
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- Olive oil
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 1 1/2 pounds top round or sirloin, small dice into 1/4 inch pieces
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley, plus more for garnish
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
- (optional) more parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Wash the eggplants, and then peel about 4 or 5 stripes down their sides (as pictured). Cut as close to the stem as possible to remove them (discard the stems), and then slice about 1/4 inch off the top. Save these, so you can use them as caps.
- Core the eggplants with a zucchini corer. Sprinkle their insides evenly with the 3/4 teaspoon salt and set them open-side-down to drain. Drain for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 400° F.
- While you’re waiting on the eggplants, prepare the filling: Heat a large skillet over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of the butter, followed by the pine nuts, and cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes, until the pine nuts are lightly toasted. Remove to a medium bowl.
- Wipe down the skillet and add 1 tablespoon olive oil, followed by the onions. Stir occasionally, until they soften, about 7 minutes. Remove to the medium bowl.
- Crack a window, turn on your exhaust, turn the heat up to high, and wait 1 minute. Add 1/2 teaspoon olive oil to the skillet, swirl to coat, and immediately add half of the diced meat and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cook, stirring every minute or two, until it browns (about 5 to 6 minutes). Remove the first batch of meat to the medium bowl with the onions and pine nuts, and immediately add another 1/2 teaspoon of oil and the rest of the meat. Let it cook until it browns, which will take a little less time than the first batch (about 3 to 4 minutes). Remove to the medium bowl and let it cool for 2 minutes, then stir in the parsley and allspice. Remove the skillet from heat, and don’t bother washing it yet (unless the bits stuck to it have turned from brown to black).
- Stuff the eggplants with as much of the meat mixture as will fit. Take the reserved caps and squeeze them into the tops so they stay in place. **
- Combine the leftover meat mixture with the can of diced tomatoes and return to the skillet. Simmer for about 2 minutes over medium heat, just to meld the flavors.
- Pour half of the tomato-meat sauce into the bottom of a casserole dish. Arrange the stuffed eggplants on theirs sides. Pour the other half of the tomato-meat sauce over the tops, pushing big chunks of meat and tomato off the tops, so they fall down the sides. Drizzle the top with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, or go over it with cooking spray. Cover everything with foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and cook for another 10 minutes, or a little longer until the top is nicely caramelized (see the photo). Sprinkle with parsley (optional) and serve.
Notes
* You can easily find zucchini corers online, and in some Middle Eastern grocery stores. In addition to making dolma, they can be used for lots more (see the note at the end of my dolma recipe).
** Compress the edges of the cap and then work it into the top of the eggplant. Take the top and hold it so that all 5 fingertips are touching its edges. Gently squeeze the top so its diameter decreases, and place it in the eggplant opening. When it is sitting in the eggplant, the cap will flatten and it will be hard to remove it because the edges will catch. It’s a little finicky, but fortunately it’s also ok to just skip this step if it gives you too much trouble. A tiny bit of the filling might fall out during baking, but it’ll be totally fine.
I came across something possibly…hopefully interesting for you. This lady was explaining on YouTube how eggplant upset her stomach and made her really sick. Once she prepared a big batch and stuck it in the freezer for later use. She defrosted it and tried it…and discovered that she had no negative physical response. Maybe worth investigating? – PS: I adore your recipes, thank you very much!
Ooh that’s so interesting!! I have some family members who are less severely allergic—I should tell them about this. My allergy is a little too intense to mess with (I get some anaphylaxis-related symptoms, which could progress dangerously with more exposure—i.e., itchy throat, tongue swelling, etc.—not actual anaphylaxis, but definitely don’t want to take any chances haha). But I haven’t actually had eggplant in like 10 years, so it might be worth re-testing to see whether it’s become less serious. Who knows! Either way, thank you for trying to help me get eggplant back in my life… I do miss it!!
Aaaah, I get it. Better safe than sorry in this case. I hope it helps your family members! 🙂
What type of can of tomatoes does this recipe call for?
Very good question! Diced (either standard or petite) or crushed should work equally well here. For recipe testing, I used diced every time. Will add this note to the recipe! Thanks for asking!