Lebanese Stuffed Eggplant

For BOAT-style: Slice the eggplant in half lengthwise and arrange on a foil or parchment lined sheet pan, cut side up. Brush the cut sides with a tablespoon of the olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Place the pan under the broiler on a rack about 3 inches from the broiler, and broil until the tops are deep golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside.

For LAYERED-style: Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment. Trim the stem from the eggplant. Cut the eggplant in half crosswise (the shorter cut), then cut each half lengthwise in 1/2-inch slices. Brush both sides of eggplant slices with olive oil, and season one side with a teaspoon of salt. Arrange the eggplant on the prepared baking sheet and broil it in batches until it is deep mahogany brown, turning once to brown both sides.

In a medium sauté pan, heat the remaining olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the onion with a pinch of salt until translucent and cooked through, but not browned. Add garlic and saute just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the ground meat, sprinkle with cinnamon, more salt, and pepper, cooking and breaking up the meat into small pieces until it is juicy and browned.

For the layered version, now set the filling aside. For the boats version, add half of the tomato sauce (we’re using the rest shortly), bring to a simmer, and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes. Taste and add more cinnamon, salt, and pepper if needed.

Move a rack to the center of the oven and heat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Arrange the eggplant halves in a large casserole or lasagna pan. Using a sharp knife, cut a slit lengthwise down the center of each half and push the eggplant from either end to open the slit slightly for the filling.

Spoon the cooked tomato meat sauce into the slits and mount on top of each eggplant half. Then, in the same saute pan, heat the remaining tomato sauce with ½ cup water and season lightly with salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Simmer for about 5 minutes, then spoon the sauce into the casserole around the eggplant.

In a a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking or similar sized gratin dish, spread about ½ cup of tomato sauce in the bottom of the dish. Place eggplant slices over the sauce, covering as much surface area of the bottom of the dish as possible. Spoon half of the meat evenly over the eggplant and pour half of the remaining tomato sauce over the meat. Sprinkle with half of the pine nuts. Now layer again with eggplant, meat, pine nuts, and tomato sauce. Finish with a layer of eggplant and cover that with more tomato sauce.

Cover the baking dish tightly with foil and bake for about 90 minutes. Toward the end of baking time, remove the foil and place the mozzarella pieces over each boat. Continue baking until the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.

Remove the casserole from the oven, sprinkle with more toasted pine nuts, and serve warm.