The original recipe calls for minced lamb, but we tried to make it more low-fat with turkey. Preheat oven to 350. Heat a Dutch oven on medium-high heat, then pour 2 Tbsp olive oil. Add 1 chopped onion and 1 chopped and seeded bell pepper (here, a serrano pepper) and sauté until onion is translucent. Add 3-4 cloves minced garlic, then sauté for another minute. Fold in 14 ½ oz peeled, diced and slightly mashed tomatoes (here, crushed tomatoes), ¼ cup minced parsley, 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp ground black pepper, and a dash of cayenne pepper. Stir in 1 lb minced turkey, breaking up as much as possible. Cook until turkey is done, then turn off heat. Cut 1 medium, peeled eggplant (here, 2-3 small eggplants) into ¼ inch penny slices.
In a 8″x8″ baking dish, spread a thin layer of the minced turkey mixture, then place eggplant slices in a single layer on top. Continue until both the ground turkey and eggplant slices are depleted (we ended up with three layers). Spray the top layer of eggplant with olive oil, then cover with foil and bake for 45 mins.
This recipe is from Barbara Ghazarian’s Simply Armenian: Naturally Healthy Ethnic Cooking Made Easy https://www.amazon.com/dp/1931834067/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_api_uyOmxb02H79BY (May 2016)
Cooking Adventures 