This hearty Greek-style pasta bake makes a great weekend lunch or midweek dinner.
Ingredients
- 105g (1/2 cup) risoni
- 125ml (1/2 cup) olive oil
- 1 large (about 450g) eggplant, thinly sliced lengthways
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, extra
- 1 brown onion, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, peeled, finely chopped
- 1 celery stick, ends trimmed, thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 500g beef mince
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 x 400g can diced tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 250g Greek-style natural yoghurt
- 1 egg, lightly whisked
- Ground cinnamon, to dust
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
Method
- Step 1Cook the risoni in a large saucepan of salted boiling water following packet directions. Drain.
- Step 2Meanwhile, heat half the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add 3-4 eggplant slices and cook for 3 minutes each side or until tender and slightly golden. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to drain. Repeat, in 3 more batches, with the remaining oil and eggplant, reheating the pan between batches.
- Step 3Heat the extra oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic, and cook for 4 minutes or until soft.
- Step 4Increase heat to medium-high. Add the mince and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up any lumps, for 5-6 minutes or until the mince changes colour. Add the tomato paste and stir until well combined. Add the tomato and oregano, and stir until well combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the risoni.
- Step 5Preheat oven to 180°C. Spread the mince mixture over the base of a 2L (8-cup) capacity ceramic baking dish. Arrange the eggplant, overlapping slightly, over the mince mixture to cover. Combine the yoghurt and egg in a bowl. Pour over the eggplant and spread evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the yoghurt is just set. Dust with cinnamon. Sprinkle with the mint to serve.
- Low carb
- Lower gi
Nutrition
2165 kj
Energy
35g
Fat Total
9g
Saturated Fat
6g
Fibre
26g
Protein
25g
Carbs (total)
All nutrition values are per serve
Notes
((( Variations: ))) For a different flavour, swap the beef mince for lamb mince. Vegetable pasta bake with yoghurt: Omit mince. In step 5, layer fresh spinach, chargrilled sweet potato, sliced fresh tomato, chargrilled zucchini and chargrilled capsicum over the risoni mixture. Finish with the eggplant and yoghurt mixture.
- Author: Gemma Luongo
- Image credit: John Paul Urizar
- Publication: Australian Good Taste
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