Eggplant Gratin (منزلة او مسقعة باذنجان)

Ramadan mubarak everyone! I know that some of you have already Iftar, so may Allah accept your fasting and worship on the first day. It's still mid day here and we still have about 7 hours till Iftar. And by the way, I'm fasting today (so far), YAY! Inshallah I will be able to finish the day :)

Yesterday I cooked eggplant gratin. This dish is one of my favorite. You can cook it by itself or as a second dish when you have some people for lunch/dinner (or Iftar). Here is the recipe I used.

You will need:

2 big eggplants (about 1.5 pounds), unpeeled and cut in slices

1/2 pound lean ground beef

1 small onion, chopped  

3 big tomatoes, cut in cubes

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 cup of water

1 cup mozzarella cheese

oil for frying

1/2 teaspoon all spices

salt

Directions:

• Heat the oil in a big frying pan and then fry the eggplants until they are evenly browned on both sides and cooked through. Transfer the cooked eggplant slices to paper towels to drain.
• In another frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon oil and then add chopped onions and fry until they are gold. Add ground meat and cook until well browned. Add tomatoes, water, and tomato paste and cover the pan over a medium heat until the tomatoes are cooked. And then add spices and salt and stir well.
• Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.
  
• Arrange half of the eggplants in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
• Spread the meat sauce over the eggplants, and then arrange the second half of the eggplant over the sauce.
• Spread the mozzarella cheese on the top until it covers the whole pan.
• Bake it for 20-30 minutes uncovered in the oven.
• Serve with pita bread or rice.