ITALIAN BEEF AND EGGPLANT BAKE

ITALIAN BEEF AND EGGPLANT BAKE

Ready in 50 minutes • Serves 4
This dish most recently appeared in Fresh Start (5 Nights For 4) on Sunday, August 27, 2017.
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With cottage cheese topping and spinach salad

Ingredients

EGGPLANT

  • 1 eggplant, thinly sliced into 0.5cm-thick rounds
  • 1½ teaspoons oil, for roasting (or use spray oil)

SPINACH SALAD

  • 20g sunflower seeds
  • 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
  • ½ teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon mustard (e.g. Dijon, wholegrain)
  • 1 courgette
  • ½ bag baby spinach leaves

ITALIAN BEEF

  • 1 teaspoon oil, for cooking (or use spray oil)
  • 1 leek, white and pale green part only, cut in half lengthways and thinly sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced or finely chopped
  • 550g lean ground beef
  • 1 tablespoon dried herb mix
  • 1 carrot, grated
  • 200g peeled pumpkin, grated
  • 1 can chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tub tomato paste
  • 1½ tablespoons soy sauce
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon runny honey
  • 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

TOPPING

  • 250g 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 20 x 20cm).
  2. Arrange eggplant on prepared tray in a single layer and brush lightly with oil. Grill, on middle-upper oven rack, for 5-6 minutes each side, until soft.
  3. Heat a large, dry fry-pan on medium heat. Toast sunflower seeds for 2-3 minutes, until golden. Remove from pan and set aside.
  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 4-5 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. Add carrot, pumpkin, tomatoes, tomato paste, soy sauce and salt. Cook on medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes, until liquid is absorbed. Stir through honey and balsamic vinegar. Season to taste.
  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, evenly spreading out. Grill, on middle-upper oven rack, for 8-10 minutes, until golden. Rest for 3 minutes before cutting into four portions.
  7. While bake grills, whisk together vinegar, oil and mustard in a bowl. Peel courgette into long, thin ribbons and thinly slice core. Just before serving, toss in bowl with vinaigrette, spinach and sunflower seeds. Season to taste.
  8. divide Italian beef and eggplant bake between plates and serve spinach salad on the side. Garnish with parsley.

Nutritional Information

Energy 1784 kj
426 kcal
Protein 46.6g
Carbohydrate 18.7g
Fat 16.8g