Eggplant and Cheese Casserole (Bathinjan ma' Jiben)

I've been trying to reduce the meat in our diet in order to save some money. With all of the cookbooks I own, and all of the free recipes available online, I'm sure I can keep this interesting. :) Last night, I decided to go with eggplant and cheese casserole. My concern was that it would taste very eggy, but the egg didn't play a leading role. The eggplant, herbs and spices come through the most. I could see this making a great side dish, but it's so packed full of flavor and veggies that I went ahead and made it the main course. I served it with a salad that was also loaded with veggies and fresh baked French bread. 

The cookbook

I've made two recipes from this book and both turned out very well. The recipes come from North Africa and the Middle East. What I love about this cookbook is it lists the country each dish is from. Each recipe also includes the Arabic title. Eggplant and cheese casserole is bathinjan ma ' Jiben....

Bathinjan = Eggplant

ma' = With

Jiben = Cheese

Finely chop the onion and parsley.

Mix the allspice, oregano and sage with the eggs and onion.

Notice the blur? That's my toddler's fingerprint smudge.

Sprinkle on the cheese.

And then the parsley.

Pour on the egg mixture and bake.

Eggplant and Cheese Casserole (Bathinjan ma' Jiben) Recipe

Common In: Syria and Lebanon

Serving Size = 4-6

Original Recipe By: H. Salloum and J. Peters (2007). From the Land of Figs and Olives, p 189.

• 1 large eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch thick slices (I didn't peel)
• 1/2 cup of olive oil (Skipped)
• 1 can tomatoes (19oz or 540ml)
• 1/4 lb feta or other white cheese, very thinly sliced (I used gouda and grated it)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro (I didn't have any)
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 1 large onion, finely chopped (I used 1 small onion)
• Salt/Pepper to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon sage

*Note: I used heaping 1/4 teaspoons. Next time, I might use 1/2 teaspoon each.

1. Place the eggplant slices in a strainer, salt, and place a heavy object on them to weigh them down (such as a plate with 2 canned goods on top) and leave for 45 minutes to drain.
2. In a frying pan, heat the oil; then saute the eggplant slices over a moderately high heat until they turn golden brown. Remove the slices from the oil and place in a strainer or on paper towels to drain the excess oil.
3. *Note: I skipped the frying. Instead, I brushed oil on one side of each eggplant slice and placed approximately 5 inches from the broiler until lightly browned and softened. Then I flipped them over, brushed with oil and broiled again.
4. Preheat the oven to 300F.
5. Place the eggplant slices in a casserole dish (make sure it's a little on the small side so that the eggplant overlap slightly). Cover evenly with tomatoes, cheese, parsley, and cilantro, in that order. 
6. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, onion, salt/pepper, allspice, oregano and sage. Pour evenly over the eggplant mixture.
7. Cover the casserole and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and bake an additional 10 minutes.
8. Serve either hot or cold (I cannot imagine eating this cold).

Bread Machine French Bread Recipe

Loaf Size = 1lb

Original Recipe from: Cook's Essentials

• 3/4 cup of warm water
• 1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/4 cups bread flour (I use unbleached)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast -or-
• 1 teaspoon quick rise yeast -or-
• 1 teaspoon of bread machine yeast (I used this one)

1. Place all of the ingredients into the bread machine, in the order recommended for your bread machine. I selected a light crust color.

Linking to: Hearth and Soul, Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Cookbook Sunday