BEEF AND EGGPLANT SAUSAGE IN EGGPLANT SHELL CASINGS

Beef and Eggplant Sausage in Eggplant Shell Casings image

Imam bayildi, as this dish of Turkish origin is called in Bulgaria, Albania, and Greece, and its story have a special place in my cooking repertoire and in my heart. It was introduced to me by Susanna Hoffman, my longtime friend and sometimes cookbook coauthor, who is, among other things, an esteemed social anthropologist whose special field of endeavor is Greece. The story of imam bayildi has many versions, but details aside, it is essentially a tale of love and household thrift. A bride new to the house of her new husband, an imam, came with a dowry of olive oil. But there was only a certain amount. And the imam loved eggplant above all other foods. In practice, because eggplant, as it cooks, is a great gulper of olive oil, and olive oil is the equivalent of kitchen gold, the dish was using up too much of the bride's dowry. What to do? How to please the husband and keep the eggplant rich and unctuous without blowing the kitchen budget? Susanna solved the dilemma by having the thoughtful bride coax the eggplant into softening with the addition of some water, thereby requiring less of the precious olive oil and with equally excellent results. Was the imam thrilled? Did he faint as the original story line suggests? We don't know, but we presume the clever, money-minded bride kept her place and the imam was happy. In yet another, latter-day telling of the story, I call the beef and eggplant filling a sausage and the eggplant shells the casing, and imam bayildi winds up in a new sausage cookbook.

Yield serves 4 to 6

Number Of Ingredients 11

Ingredients

2 small eggplants (about 3/4 pound each)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow or white onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3/4 pound ground beef
1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup red wine
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, or more if needed
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan or other hard cheese

Steps:

To make the sausage, cut the eggplants in half lengthwise. Scoop the pulp out of each eggplant half, leaving a 1/4-inch-thick shell. Coarsely chop the pulp and sprinkle it with the salt. Set the pulp and shells aside separately.
In a large nonreactive sauté pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes. Crumble in the beef and cook, stirring to break up the clumps, until the meat is browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, oregano, wine, and eggplant pulp and decrease the heat to maintain a brisk simmer. Cook, stirring frequently and adding a little water when necessary to keep the mixture from sticking to the pan, until the eggplant collapses into a puree, the wine is no longer raw, and the mixture is almost dry, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the 2 tablespoons oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add as many eggplant shells as will fit without crowding and sauté, turning two or three times, until wilted all around, about 6 minutes. Transfer the shells, open sides up, to a baking dish in which all the shells will fit tightly packed. Repeat with the remaining shells, adding more oil if needed to prevent sticking.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Divide the sausage mixture evenly among the eggplant shells, filling them to the top. Pour water into the baking dish to reach 1/4 inch up the sides of the shells.
Bake until the shells are soft and the filling is bubbling up, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the tops of the filled shells and continue baking until the cheese is melted.
Serve hot from the oven, at room temperature, or chilled.