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stuffed eggplant | sheikh mahshi

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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.

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stuffed eggplant | sheikh mahshi

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  • 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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Preheat the oven to 400° F.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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).
  7. 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. **
  8. 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.
  9. 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.

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roasted garlic hummus

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It’s amazing the variety of things you can make with a few basic ingredients. For instance, it always surprises me that a crêpe has the same ingredients as a pancake—they’re both essentially flour, eggs, butter, and milk—but these two different griddle cakes taste nothing alike. While their uniqueness has a lot to do with texture (one is of course flat and the other fluffy), they also just taste different. Like, if someone took a crêpe and puréed it, and did the same to a pancake, I would bet that most people would be able to tell which is which, and this difference (preparation methods aside) is largely due to ingredient proportions. Unfortunately, there aren’t any actual pancakes in this garlic hummus post, but the principle is universal.

In the case of hummus, the chickpea:tahini:lemon ratio is one of the most important things to consider. Even though everyone’s using the same basic ingredients, no one’s recipe tastes like anyone else’s.

This post’s hummus is not my usual recipe, which has way more lemon juice than you might ever think to add. And while I use lemon with reckless abandon, I’m not a big fan of garlicky hummus—I want the garlic to be a background note, and not such a primary flavor. And while I like to use a good amount of tahini, I don’t normally use a ton. So my ideal hummus tends to be bright and lemony, with a few subdued earthy flavors in the background.

But not everyone likes their hummus the way I do, so this recipe is for everyone who hears “bright and lemony” and totally turns off. This hummus is all about savory and earthy flavors, with a hint of lemon and fresh garlic for some brightness (but don’t worry, not too much). There’s a ton of tahini for nutty earthiness, and even more roast garlic, for those who start every meal prep by finely mincing up a whole bunch of cloves to be sautéed, and who never sit down to a meal without a bottle of sriracha on the table. While my citrus and salad loving family always makes their hummus the way I do (I mean, where do you think I learned how?), I like to make this extra-tahini and roasted garlic hummus for my in-laws, who are more into spaghetti carbonara, peanut soup, and pasta puttanesca.

These savory flavors are especially priceless in a vegan diet. There are certainly a ton of plant-based ingredients that have rich umami flavor, but if your idea of eating vegan mostly includes things like herby lemon salad with romaine and chickpeas, you’re probably missing the meatier flavors that are simpler to find when eating… well… meat! An extra jolt of tahini and roast garlic is just the thing for some bonus savoriness.

Many Assyrians spend a big chunk of the year on a vegan fast, so this hummus recipe is particularly perfect for fasting times (or “soma”). There’s an important, albeit short, vegan fast coming up soon (depending on the denomination, some will observe it this week, some next week), called the Fast of Nineveh. This fast commemorates Jonah’s prophecy and the subsequent repentance of the Ninevites (the Assyrians living in the city of Nineveh). My grandmother says that this holiday is like Assyrian Thanksgiving, because it’s a time to reflect on what you’re thankful for. I’m definitely thankful for hummus in all its forms!

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roasted garlic hummus

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Ingredients

To soak the beans:

note: If you want to skip soaking and cooking the beans, simply use 2 15.5 ounce cans of chickpeas, and skip to making the hummus.

  • 1 1/4 cups dried chickpeas
  • 2 quarts water
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda

To cook the beans:

  • 2 quarts water
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • Soaked chickpeas

To make the hummus:

  • cooked chickpeas (or 2 15.5 ounce cans of chickpeas, strained and rinsed)
  • 8 whole unpeeled garlic cloves, for roasting
  • 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic, raw
  • 2/3 cup tahini
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons lemon juice *
  • 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste **
  • 2 tablespoons water, or more if necessary
  • For serving: extra virgin olive oil, za’atar and/or paprika, and pita bread and/or veggies

Instructions

  1. Soak the beans: Cover the chickpeas with the water and baking soda, and stir until the baking soda dissolves. Soak overnight, for at least 12 hours.
  2. Cook the beans: Discard the soaking liquid, add the drained chickpeas to a small stockpot, and cover with another 2 quarts of water and 2 more teaspoons baking soda.
  3. Bring to a boil over high heat, and then immediately reduce to a simmer and cook for about 30 to 40 minutes, until the chickpeas are completely cooked through.
  4. Once they’re done, strain them and rinse them under cold water.
  5. Preheat the oven to 400° F.
  6. Make the hummus: While the chickpeas are cooling down, roast the garlic: coat the unpeeled cloves in the 1/2 teaspoon olive oil, and roast them for 20 to 30 minutes, until they’re very soft, and the skins have cracked open a little to reveal some brown spots on the cloves underneath.
  7. Once the garlic cloves are cool enough to handle, peel them out of their skins (they’ll most likely easily peel away, but if they don’t, you can squeeze them out of their skins like toothpaste).
  8. Finely mince the 1 clove of raw garlic in a food processor.
  9. Once the chickpeas have cooled, purée them with the minced fresh garlic, roast garlic, tahini, lemon juice, salt, and 2 tablespoons water, until completely smooth. Add more water until it reaches your desired consistency.
  10. Spread the hummus on 2 plates (or freeze half for another time and spread half on one plate), make little indentations with the back of a spoon, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with either paprika or za’atar (pictured: one of each).

Notes

* Feel free to use just 1/4 cup if you prefer, but it’s really good with the full amount.

** If you’re using canned chickpeas instead of dried, you might want to cut back on the amount of salt you add. This recipe has you cook the chickpeas in unsalted water, so this is the only opportunity to add salt to the hummus. Some canned chickpeas, on the other hand, come with quite a bit of sodium.

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