Beef and Aubergine Casserole

Name: Beef and Aubergine Casserole
Yield: Serves Four
Ingredients: toasted pitta bread or steamed rice, to serve; pinch of sugar; 400 g/14 oz can chopped tomatoes; 175 ml/6 fl oz/¾ cup white wine; 1 kg/2¼ lb good-quality stewing steak or feather steak, sliced in 4 thick pieces; 2.5 ml/½ tsp dried oregano; 1 onion, chopped; 5 garlic cloves, chopped; salt and ground black pepper; about 120 ml/4 fl oz/½ cup extra virgin olive oil, or as needed; 2–3 aubergines (eggplants), total weight about 675g/1½lb; 1.5 ml/¼ tsp cinnamon; pinch of allspice; 1 bay leaf; 45 ml/3 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley

Preparation info

Serves
Four

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Complete Guide to Traditional Jewish Cooking

By Marlena Spieler

Published 2016

About

This colourful dish is eaten in many guises and with different spicing throughout the Mediterranean Region. Sephardic Jews have a great affinity for the aubergine, and this dish of braised beef, scented with Greek spices and awash with tomatoes, makes the very best of this Versatile vegetable.

Ingredients

about 120 ml/4 fl oz/½ cup extra virgin olive oil, or as needed

Main course
Mediterranean

Method

Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan and brown the pieces of meat on both sides. As each piece browns, take it out and set it aside on a plate.
Add the chopped onion to the oil remaining in the pan and sauté until it turns translucent.
Add the oregano and the garlic, then, as soon as the garlic becomes aromatic, return the meat to the pa