16 August 2010

Home Cooking: Steamed Eggplant with beef mince, mushroom, tomato and cheese (16 August 2010)


Healthy Steaming

I'm really loving eggplant at the moment now that I've discovered how easy it is to steam them which makes them so tasty and mushy. Tonight's dinner was very simple. I cut the eggplant in half, make some criss cross cuts and place in a bamboo steamer with baking paper over boiling water for about 20 minutes. In a fry pan while the eggplant is steaming I cook up diced onion. Once cooked a bit you add the beef mince and some garlic. Once that's cooked you add diced mushroom until soft then add a can of your favourite canned tomato with herbs. Season well with salt and pepper and herbs and simmer for about 10 minutes. I then scoop out some of the steamed eggplant and add to the beef tomato mix and simmer for another 5 minutes. Then carefully place the steam eggplant on a baking tray and spoon over the beef tomato mixture. Top with grated mozzarella or your favourite pizza cheese mix and place in a 250 degree hot oven for about 10-15 minutes to melt the cheese and bake all together. Serve carefully on a plate and top with freshly chopped parsley.

Ingredients:
• 1 Eggplant sliced in half
• 200 grams of beef mince (or try with a can of three beans mix)
• 2 large mushroom chopped finely
• 1 crushed garlic clove
• 1 can of diced Italian tomato
• Hand full of grated cheese
• Salt, Pepper, Italian Herbs and Chilli Powder


Steamed Eggplant with beef mince, mushroom, tomato and cheese, Chef Leong :-)

Bamboo steamer

8 comments:

shaz said...

Looks very warming and satisfying (and secretly healthy!). I love eggplant too, so I'd give it a go, but convincing the kids is another story :)

Kristy Sayer-Jones @ Southern In Law said...

Ooh this looks delicious Simon!
I'm thinking about giving eggplant a chance and re-trying it.
I loveeee vegetables but eggplant has been a no go after horrible home economics recipes :P

john@heneedsfood said...

Yummo Simon, this looks and sounds delicious. As much as I love eggplant I've never had it steamed

Gummi Baby said...

I would never have thought to do eggplant this way. Your pics are so gorgeous, will have to try it! :D

Brenda said...

I love it Simon! A simple and easy meal to prepare and bonus it's healthy too

Anna said...

Eggplant is a gorgeous vegetable, isn't it?!

I've actually been thinking of getting a bamboo steamer recently... if only I had more storage space in my little Sydney kitchen!

SoRMuiJAi said...

Oh wow, that looks so good I don't believe its healthy! Tell the truth, did you hide butter in it? :P

Simon Leong said...

hi shaz, i think if you cover with some yummy tasty cheese and mince the kids would love it — hopefully.

hi kristy, i've only recently started enjoying eggplant. i think previously i didn't know how to cook it but steaming it seems to be a great way to make it so tasty and soft.

hi john, you've got to steam it at least once. i think you've lot it. try it with soy sauce and chilli and maybe some hoison sauce for an Asian inspired style topped with coriander perhaps.

hi gummi baby, i'm not how i got on to trying this but i remember having some really nice eggplant in a japanese restaurant and had no idea how they did it. but i think it must be through steaming. hope it works out for you too.

hi brenda, simple and healthy recipes are the best. something you don't see too often if at all on MasterChef hehe i think they should have a MasterChef challenge where they're not allowed to use any butter.

hi ladybird, it sure is when it's cooked well. i love crumbed eggplant as well in sandwiches. i must try and do this at home too. the steamers come in different sizes so perhaps just get a little one. alternatively you can use a colander on your pot and it would do the same thing but i guess it's not flat, but then put a plate inside would work. and cover with pot lid.

hi sormuijai, it's very easy to do without butter although i did use a little bit when frying up the onions at the start. but that's it. the oil from the mince could be used to do the same thing without adding any extra oil.

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