Stuffed Eggplant with Ground Beef (Karniyarik) Recipe

This is a delicious ground beef and eggplant dish for eggplant lovers! This incredible Turkish recipe for stuffed eggplant is made with ground beef, tomato, onion and garlic. I use a lot of onion and garlic in cooking. Both have very valuable health benefits.

Ingredients;

• 6 middle size eggplants,
• Water (for soak the egg plants),
• 2 tablespoons of salt, (for soak the egg plants).

For frying eggplants;

• 1 cup of vegetable oil.

For filling;

• 250 grams ground beef,
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil,
• 2 middle size onions, chopped,
• 3 cloves of garlic, grated,
• 2 bay leaves (to taste),
• 1 coffee spoon of tomato paste,
• 3 middle size tomatoes, diced,
• A handful of parsley, finely chopped,
• Salt,
• Ground black pepper.

For the sauce;

• 1,5 cup of water,
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste.

Process of Stuffed Eggplant with Ground Beef (Karniyarik) Recipe

Cut stalks of eggplants and peel them lengthwise, in striped-pyjama fashion.
Cut a deep split lengthwise without cutting through to the skin on the opposite side.
Soak the eggplants in the salted water for about 30 minutes to remove their bitterness. Then wash them and dry with paper towel.
Fry the eggplants over high heat for five minutes, until evenly browned all over, turning them regularly with tongs and then place them into a pyrex, cut sides facing up.

For the filling, heat the vegetable oil in a pan and then add the chopped onions and cook it till tenders.
Now add the grated garlic, bay leaves and ground beef and cook them by stirring until the ground beef bring the juice out and reabsorb it.
After you add the tomato paste and stir, also add the diced tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes get tender.
Finally add the parsley, salt and ground black pepper and stir.
Your sauce is ready. Remove it from the heat.

Carefully open the slits and, with a spoon, press against the flesh on the insides to make a pocket.
Spoon the filling into the pocket of each eggplant, then cover each with a slice of tomato and green pepper.

For the sauce, mix the water with tomato paste in a bowl. And add the remaining filling on it and stir. Pour this mixture on the pyrex.

Bake the stuffed eggplant with ground beef in the preheated oven to 180°C until the eggplants are tender and nicely browned on top.

Serve hot with rice pilaf and cacik (Turkish yogurt with cucumber).

You can cook this dish ahead of time and gently reheat in the oven. Karniyarik freezes very well, once cooked.