Sinaya (Einat's Shepherds Pie) Recipe

"I saw this recipe being made on Sara's Weeknight Meals show. Sara's guest, notable New York City chef, Einat Admony, made this recipe and it looked phenomenal! As she described it, it's Palestinian comfort food and their version of shepherd's pie. It is nothing like the Western version. It uses eggplant as a base, layered with ground beef and lamb, vegetables, topped with a delicious tahini sauce, and then baked. Placing it here for safekeeping before I forget about it or it disappears from cyber space."

Step by Step Method

Step 1

Cut the eggplant into ¼ inch-thick slices and sprinkle with salt. Let it sit for 1 hour or so to allow the excess moisture to drip off (this also helps remove the bitterness from the eggplant).

Step 2

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Step 3

Combine all the ingredients for the tahini sauce in a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Set aside until ready to use.

Step 4

Place the eggplant slices in a large baking dish and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and place the tomato slices on top of the eggplant. Set the baking dish aside but keep the oven on.

Step 5

Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add the onion. Sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the ground beef and lamb and season with the baharat, paprika, cumin, 2 teaspoons salt, and the pepper. Cook for another 20 minutes.

Step 6

Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley. Drain off the excess liquid and transfer the ground meat to the baking dish with the eggplant and tomato slices.