Recipes Dinner Meat Dishes Lamb Main Course Stuffed Eggplant with Lamb and Pine Nuts 2.5 (2) 2 Reviews This warmly spiced roasted eggplant is Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi’s take on a dish that was made by the late chef Elran Shrefler at Azura Restaurant. By Yotam Ottolenghi Yotam Ottolenghi Yotam Ottolenghi is a Jerusalem-born chef who showcases vegetables and co-owns 10 restaurants and delis in the U.K. and one in Switzerland. His 11 cookbooks have won many awards, including James Beard Awards for Jerusalem and NOPI. Ottolenghi is a longtime columnist for The Guardian and has hosted a few TV specials. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on August 12, 2026 Save Rate PRINT Share Close Credit: © Antonis Achilleos Cook Time: 1 hr 10 mins Total Time: 1 hr 45 mins Servings: 4 Yield: 4 Jump to recipe Tender roasted eggplant is filled with warmly spiced ground lamb, pine nuts, and parsley for a hearty, aromatic main course.Cinnamon, cumin, and paprika season the lamb, while lemon juice, tamarind, and sugar bring a sweet-tart balance to the dish.Basting the eggplant as it roasts keeps it tender while allowing the spiced pan juices to soak into the vegetable and lamb. This recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi combines tender roasted eggplant with a flavorful lamb filling spiced with cinnamon, cumin, and paprika. It’s a take on an eggplant dish from the late chef Elran Shrefler, whose cooking drew on Kurdish and Turkish flavors and techniques. 10 Types of Eggplant You’ll Find at the Grocery Store and Farmers Market Why baste the eggplant while cooking? Eggplant’s porous flesh readily absorbs the flavorful juices around it, and basting helps keep it moist and tender as it cooks. Here, the pan juices are infused with lemon, tamarind, sugar, and the warm spices used in the lamb filling, so spooning them over the eggplant as it roasts builds flavor throughout the dish. Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen Season the eggplant generously with salt and pepper before roasting — the eggplant itself is otherwise relatively bland compared to the filling and sauce.Cooking half the spices with the onion blooms their aromas and distributes their flavor evenly through the lamb. Use moderate heat to prevent scorching.Taste the filling before stuffing. This is your best opportunity to adjust the salt. The finished dish has several strong sweet-tart flavors, so the lamb mixture should taste well seasoned on its own.When you arrange the stuffed eggplants for the second bake, keep them fairly snug in the dish. This helps the liquid surround the eggplant rather than spreading into a thin layer that can evaporate too quickly. Suggested pairing Juicy, red berry–inflected Pinot Noir. Keep Screen Awake Ingredients 1/2x 1x 2x Oops! Something went wrong. Our team is working on it. This recipe was developed at its original yield. Ingredient amounts are automatically adjusted, but cooking times and steps remain unchanged. Note that not all recipes scale perfectly. Original recipe (1X) yields 4 servings 4 (1-pound) eggplants, halved lengthwise 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika 1 large onion, finely chopped 1 pound ground lamb 3 tablespoons pine nuts 2 teaspoons tomato paste 1/4 cup chopped parsley, divided 1 tablespoon sugar, divided 1/2 cup water 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1 teaspoon tamarind concentrate 1 (1 1/2-inch) cinnamon stick Directions Preheat the oven to 425°F. Arrange the eggplants in a large baking dish, cut sides up. Brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake in the upper third of the oven for about 20 minutes, until browned. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the cinnamon, cumin, and paprika. In a large skillet, heat the 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onion and half of the spice mixture; cover and cook over medium heat, stirring a few times, until softened, about 7 minutes. Add the lamb and cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until no pink remains, about 4 minutes. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat in the skillet. Stir in the pine nuts, tomato paste, half of the parsley, and 1 teaspoon of the sugar; season the lamb with salt and pepper. Spoon the filling onto the eggplants. In the small bowl with the remaining spices, combine 1/2 cup of water, the lemon juice, tamarind concentrate, remaining 2 teaspoons of sugar, and a pinch each of salt and pepper; pour into the baking dish. Add the cinnamon stick and cover the dish with foil. Bake for about 50 minutes, basting twice with the pan juices, until very tender. Transfer the eggplants to plates or a platter and discard the cinnamon stick. Pour the pan juices over the eggplants, sprinkle with the remaining parsley, and serve. Recipe adapted from Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. Cook this recipe and more in the MyRecipes app. Get the App Save Rate Print Loading shell for RecipesUgcThreaded1 Vue component in Globe.