Sunday, February 5, 2012

Greek Beef and Aubergine Bake

I saw this in a magazine a few months ago and loved the concept of it all, the only problem is that I'm not a big fan of lamb mince as I find that it's really fatty and oily.  So I decided to swap it for some lovely Pat Whelan mince which was crying out for a good home!  The original recipe had black olives which neither of us like, so I left them out (this means you can add them back in if you like them, the same with the lamb).  It's a lovely warming winter dish and the little salty cubes of feta scattered throughout the beef are fantastic little flavourbombs.  This also tastes even better the next day when it's had time to mellow a bit.  If you're feeling virtuous, serve this with a lovely Greek salad.  If not, just grab a spoon and dig in...





Greek Beef and Aubergine Bake

1 tbsp Oil
1 large Aubergine, chopped into 1cm dice
2 Red Onions, chopped into 1cm dice
2 cloves of Garlic, minced
500g Minced Beef
250g Semi-dried Tomatoes (use a can of cherry tomatoes if you want)
250ml Beef Stock
1 tbsp dried Oregano (unless you can find fresh in winter...)
150g Feta Cheese, crumbled roughly
2 Potatoes, thinly sliced

Preheat your oven to 200c/Gas Mark 6


Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the aubergine and onion for 5 minutes (you may need to do this in two batches), add the garlic a minute before the end so it doesn't burn.  Transfer to a large casserole or gratin dish.


Now fry the mince in the same pan until browned and add to the casserole dish.  Add the tomatoes, stock, herbs and feta to the dish and mix well so it's all combined.


Top with the sliced potatoes, cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.  Remove the foil after 30 minutes to allow the potatoes to brown.


Eat...  It's not pretty but it tastes wonderful

4 comments:

  1. Lovely Pat Whelan mince? What part of the Pat Whelan did you use, the poor man? I knew he was serious about that butchers shop, but this is taking things a little too far.

    Seriously though, It does sound like a great recipe and we are not all than keen on olives around here either. It is certainly a recipe where most people would have all the ingredients to hand - apart from bits of minced Pat, that is :) Shall have to give it a go...

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  2. Giggling away to myself about that minced Pat comment - the poor man! Do give it a go - it's not the most pretty of dinners but I'd much rather have something that tastes fantastic, and it's even better the next day

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  3. Minced butcher, it's a bit like the ol' Family Butcher sign which always makes me think more about staying away from the shop...

    This sounds like a nice recipe for the pound of lamb mince I got recently, thanks for sharing!

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  4. This sounds lovely Aoife, Irene isn't mad on the 'oul aubergine, might cook it and not tell her.......that way if she doesn't like the combo of it all......*MORE FOR ME*!!

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