Baked Eggplant with Beef

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• 2 small or medium eggplant
• 1/3 cup avocado or grapeseed oil
• 2/3 cup minced yellow onion (about 1/2 medium onion)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce (preferably Hunts)
• 1 cup water
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts (optional)

For the eggplant:

1. Wash and dry the eggplant. Cut off both ends. Use a vegetable peeler to peel off the skin in stripes (leaving all the skin can sometimes make it bitter or tough).
2. Slice the eggplant crosswise into 1/2 – 3/4 inch slices; lay them on a sheet pan.
3. With a pastry brush, coat each slice with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Flip and repeat.

4. Set the broiler to low (if you have the option) and place the rack about 7 inches under the broiler.

Broil for about 10 minutes, or until the top of the eggplant slice is very browned (check on them every 4-5 minutes while they broil, as some pieces will need to be flipped and removed before others). Flip and repeat on other side. Raise to high broil if second side takes longer than 10 minutes to brown.

5. Remove eggplant from the broiler and place in a single layer onto a 13x9x2 inch casserole dish. You may need to squish the pieces of eggplant together in order to get them all to fit (they may not all fit). 

6. With the back of a spoon press down into the center of each slice of eggplant to create a crevice for the ground beef.

For the beef:

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef, and break it up a bit. Allow to cook without moving until browned. Add Allspice, salt, and peeper. Then, break up the beef well as it finishes browning.
2. If no fat has been rendered from the beef, add a bit of olive oil to the pan . Add the onions and cook until translucent. Add garlic, and cook until fragrant. Taste the meat to make sure it is well seasoned.
3. When the meat is done, scoot it over to the side of the pan and toast the pine nuts until they start to turn brown. Once they are toasted, remove the pan from the heat. Mix well.

For the eggplant slices:

1. Place a spoonful of meat onto each slice of eggplant; pressing the meat slightly down. There will most likely be meat left over after filling the eggplant, so just leave it in the pan.

2. Over medium heat, in the same pan used to cook the meat (which probably still has some meat leftover), add the tomato sauce and water. Bring to a boil, reduce, and simmer for a few minutes.

3. Spoon the sauce over the eggplant; it should just about cover it. 

4. Cover the dish with foil and bake at 375-F for about 25 minutes or until heated through. I use a glass casserole dish and when I see the sauce beginning to bubble in the bottom corner of the dish, I know it is ready. I can also hear the sauce bubbling away when I open the oven door to check on it.

5. Serve with Rice Pilaf.