ITALIAN BEEF AND EGGPLANT BAKE

ITALIAN BEEF AND EGGPLANT BAKE

Ready in 50 minutes • Serves 2
This dish most recently appeared in Fresh Start (5 Nights For 2) on Sunday, August 27, 2017.
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With cottage cheese topping and spinach salad

Ingredients

EGGPLANT

  • ½ eggplant, thinly sliced into 0.5cm-thick rounds
  • ¾ teaspoon oil, for roasting (or use spray oil)

SPINACH SALAD

  • 1 teaspoon sunflower seeds
  • ½ teaspoon balsamic vinegar
  • ¼ teaspoon mustard (e.g. Dijon, wholegrain)
  • ½ courgette
  • ½ bag baby spinach leaves

ITALIAN BEEF

  • ½ teaspoon oil, for cooking (or use spray oil)
  • ½ leek, white and pale green part only, cut in half lengthways and thinly sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced or finely chopped
  • 275g lean ground beef
  • 1½ teaspoons dried herb mix
  • ½ carrot, grated
  • 100g peeled pumpkin, grated
  • 1¼ cups canned chopped tomatoes
  • ½ tub tomato paste
  • 2½ teaspoons soy sauce
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon runny honey
  • 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

TOPPING

  • 2/3 cup lite cottage cheese, any excess liquid tipped out
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ teaspoon salt

TO SERVE

  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley leaves and stalks

Steps

  1. oven to high grill. Line an oven tray with baking paper. Set aside a baking dish (measuring about 15x15cm).
  2. Arrange eggplant on prepared tray in a single layer and brush lightly with oil. Grill, on middleupper oven rack, for 5-6 minutes each side, until soft.
  3. Heat a medium, dry fry-pan on medium heat. Toast sunflower seeds for 2-3 minutes, until golden. Remove from pan and set aside. Reserve pan.
  4. Heat oil in same pan on medium-high heat. Cook leek and garlic with a pinch of salt for 2-3 minutes, until soft. Increase heat to high, add beef and cook for about 4 minutes, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until browned.
  5. In a bowl, whisk together cottage cheese, egg and salt. Season with pepper and set aside. Add dried herb mix to beef and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Stir through carrot, pumpkin, tomatoes, tomato paste, soy sauce, salt and honey. Cook on mediumhigh heat for 3-5 minutes, until liquid is absorbed. Stir through balsamic vinegar and season.
  6. Place half the beef mixture in baking dish and place half the eggplant on top. Repeat with remaining beef mixture and eggplant. Top with cottage cheese mixture, spreading out evenly. Grill, on middle-upper oven rack for 8-10 minutes, until golden. Rest for 3 minutes before cutting.
  7. While bake grills, whisk together vinegar and mustard in a bowl. Peel courgette into long, thin ribbons and thinly slice core. Toss in bowl with vinaigrette, spinach and sunflower seeds and season.
  8. divide Italian beef and eggplant bake between plates and serve spinach salad on the side. Garnish with parsley.

Nutritional Information

Energy 1835 kj
439 kcal
Protein 50.7g
Carbohydrate 20.0g
Fat 15.7g