This recipe, which I have been cooking for more than 50 years, was developed by the Armenian mother of my fourth-grade teacher. It is simple to put together, but the dish will taste better when served the longer the stovetop step simmers. Leftovers are delicious! If you would prefer, you could serve this over rice and pair it with a green salad. I just put it in spaghetti bowls and serve it with some crusty bread, butter, and good red wine. Enjoy!
| Prep Time: | 35 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 35 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 (1 pound) eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
- salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large sweet onion, coarsely chopped
- 2 large stalks celery, sliced
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 pinches dried oregano
- 2 pinches ground dried rosemary
- 2 pinches paprika
- ⅛ teaspoon dried mint
- 1 pinch salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic, minced
- 3 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 pound ground lamb
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lemon, juiced, or to taste
Instructions
- Place eggplant in a colander set in a bowl or the sink; sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and toss to coat. Let eggplant stand for at least 1 hour. Rinse off the bitter liquid and excess salt and drain well.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion and celery; cook and stir until onion has softened and turned translucent and celery is fragrant, about 5 minutes.
- While vegetables are cooking, combine ground cumin, oregano, rosemary, paprika, mint, salt, and black pepper in a small bowl or mortar and pestle and mix well; this is the lamb seasoning (see Cook’s Note). Set seasoning aside.
- Stir eggplant cubes and garlic into the vegetables in the skillet, mixing well, and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes and sprinkle with half of the lamb seasoning mixture. Reserve remaining seasoning. Stir gently and cook for 5 minutes more.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 2-quart casserole dish.
- Pour chicken broth and half the can of tomato sauce into the skillet and simmer for 10 minutes; add a little water if the sauce starts to get dry. Transfer the sauce to the prepared casserole dish.
- Return the skillet to the stove over medium-high heat and heat the reserved tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Place ground lamb into skillet and sprinkle with remaining seasoning mixture. Brown lamb in the hot oil, stirring frequently, until the meat is evenly browned; it should look like imperfect meatballs.
- Gently transfer the lamb to the casserole dish, pushing it down into the vegetable mixture so that it is at least partially submerged. Stir fresh lemon juice into the remaining tomato sauce and pour the sauce over the casserole.
- Bake uncovered for 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending upon how tender you like your vegetables.
- I use the lamb seasoning from Penzey’s Spices®: it’s a ground blend of oregano, rosemary, cumin, celery, sweet paprika, black pepper, onion, garlic, spearmint and ginger. I use 1 teaspoon of the seasoning blend instead of the individual spices listed in the recipe. You could easily improvise on this, if need be.
- If you want the veggies to be soft, cover the casserole and bake for 1.5 hours. Uncover and bake for 45 minutes longer. I like this with veggies slightly crisp, so I bake this for 45 minutes to an hour, uncovered.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 385 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 23 g |
| Cholesterol | 77 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 8 g |
| Protein | 24 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Sodium | 1471 mg |
| Sugars | 12 g |
| Fat | 23 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Lovely recipe and the beauty of it is, as the author mentioned, it originated from an Armenian family; It is a recipe that can be appreciated in any cultural background. Armenian, Middle Eastern, Indian, Italian, Greek, WHATEVER! The herbs can be tweeked a bit here and there to accommodate one’s personal preferences. Really enjoyed it a lot. I’m confused by the review stating the photo has cheese on it, but anyhow…thank you for sharing!!
Excellent, we classified as a “keeper” recipe. After reading some comments, I added a tbsp of each spice including the cumin. Served with glazed carrots and whole wheat noodles.
Very yummy. I was missing both celery and mint. I used fresh dill in mine and I simply stewed the whole thing instead of baking as a casserole, so essentially it was a goulash. We served with a pearl couscous. Absolutely delicious. I hope to make it as written some day. 🙂
I’ve made this many times now. So good. I followed to a T the first time I made it. Since then I’ve determined I don’t need to let the eggplant weep for an hour. Ten minutes and rinse is fine for me. No bitter taste. I go a little heavier on the spices and leave out the lemon. Plenty of tart from the tomato for me. And I prefer using a large can of whole tomatoes rather than sauce. I quarter them and throw the chunks in with the juice from the can. I tried adding feta cheese crumbles once, and that was good, but the lamb has enough fat without the cheese.
Served with bucatini and a dollop of Greek yoghurt. I doubled the seasonings and when I make it again I may triple it. It was very good and my husband really enjoyed it. All I had on hand was a small can of regular tomato sauce and a can of tomato sauce with jalapeños. That added spiciness was great. It was a bit watery so next time I think I’ll skip the one cup of chicken stock and add a bit of chicken boullion powder. It also needs more salt than called for in the recipe.
Loved this recipe! Followed recipe exactly except double the spice, dropped the tomato sauce by 1/2, omitted the chicken stock and added a small zucchini. Excellent!
This is a delicious dish that freezes well. It tastes wonderful with a dollop of plain nonfat yoghurt on top!
I thought this was very good. I will make it again. I served it with bread. I did add 1/2t Greek seasoning as one reviewer mentioned that and I had it in the cupboard. I would put it in a category of a “comfort” food.
I tripled spices based on comments. Be sure to drain lamb before adding to dish. Would have been very greasy had I not dine so. This was good. Hubby put it over couscous. Would make again. To ease time I would consider canned tomatoes. I did vege potion in oven proof Dutch oven. Then cooked lamb in separate skillet and added to Dutch oven before baking.
Amazing! Did it fully in a wok as I didn’t have a casserole dish with the oven. Kept adding water so it wouldn’t stick to the bottom, simmering 45 minutes. Perfection.
We loved it! I don’t cook with lamb very often, but i will make this again.
I made this following the recipe and it was delicious!
Lamb needs to be drained after cooking for lower fat and better mouth feel. Very good.
Delicious!
Delicious! I didn’t have lamb (my bad I know) so I used ground pork…it was the bomb. I also added a couple hot Hungarian peppers (we like spicy!!) and mixed in a little cream with the tomato/lemon sauce to make it a little less acidic.
Everyone loved this dish. I followed the recipe exactly but had to leave out onions because I’m allergic. Definitely a keeper recipe!
We followed directions exact more like soup Sorry not worth all the steps
Very god and heart, easy to make.. Served it the next day with baked feta cheese, a Greek style pepper salad and home made pita…yum!
It was great. Plan to make it again.
I added red pepper flakes and it gave it a little kick! It was quite good.
My family loved this receipe! Mine was more like a stew, I added a few more tomatoes from our garden, and used a 2 quart bowl Pyrex. It was delicious!!