Turkish “Karniyarik” healthy recipe

Karniyarik! A classic of any Turkish cookbook. Everyone loves these aubergines stuffed with minced meat and tomato sauce. This is a healthier recipe, since we are not going to fry the aubergines, but either bake or roast them.

The recipe requires a few steps but is very simple.

First step: cook the aubergines

Roast or bake the eggplants for about 20 minutes. In the second case, turn them over when necessary, so they don’t burn. When they are tender, reserve and let them cool down.

Second step: prepare the filling

Heat a little extra virgin olive oil in a pot or pan, without letting it smoke. Chop the onion and garlic and then fry them over moderate heat, until they are tender. Add the ground meat and mix, so that it can be browned evenly. When this has happened, add the crushed tomato and the tomato and/or pepper paste together with the spices. Cook over low heat for 15-20 minutes. Reserve.

Third step: preparing the “karniyarik”

Make a longitudinal cut to each eggplant, but without dividing them completely in half. In this way, we will create a hole to later add the filling.

Make some cuts in the meat of the aubergine and press slightly, in order to get rid of as much liquid as possible. This step is important, because this is how we eliminate the typical bitter taste of aubergines. In addition, we will have created more space for the filling.

Then proceed to fill the karniyarik with a spoon until the entire cavity is covered. It’s traditionally garnished with a slice of tomato and/or an Italian green pepper on top.

Fourth step: bake

Mix a spoonful of tomato paste and boiling water in a cup until dissolved. Arrange the stuffed aubergines in a mold and add the tomato sauce, in this way we make sure that the karniyarik will not dry out or burn.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Tips and tricks:

1. Traditionally, eggplants are fried, but in the suggested way we can save calories without sacrificing flavor.
2. The ideal eggplants for this recipe are those that are not very large and elongated. They are sold in any Turkish market especially for this recipe. The largest ones are generally roasted and used for example for the salad known as patlican salatasi.
3. It is important not to skip the step of “bleeding” the eggplants, since keeping their liquid would give them a very bitter taste.
4. The ground meat can be beef, lamb, or a mixture of both.
5. For a similar option but without meat, see the recipe of imam bayldi.
6. We can find a similar recipe in the Greek cousine, called papoutsakia, which has an additional bechamel and cheese gratin.