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Eggplant, Tomato and Chickpea Bake: Musaqa’a
Ingredients
  • 5 medium eggplants
  • 1/2 C. olive oil
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 1 onion finely chopped
  • 6 garlic cloves crushed
  • 1 t. chile flakes
  • 1 t. ground cumin
  • 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 t. tomato paste
  • 2 green bell peppers seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 15- oz. can of chickpeas drained and rinsed
  • 1 14- oz can chopped tomatoes
  • 1 1/2 t. sugar
  • 3/4 C. plus 2 T. water
  • 1 C. cilantro roughly chopped
  • 4 plum tomatoes sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
  2. Trim off the ends of the eggplants and, using a food peeler, peel strips of the skin off the eggplant. You want to peel alternating strips of the skin off the eggplants so that you have a stripe pattern. Cut the eggplants into 3/4-inch rounds and toss them with about 5 T. of oil, 1 t. salt and a generous amount of black pepper. Spread the oiled eggplant rounds out on a baking sheet that you have lined with parchment paper. Roast the eggplant rounds for about 30 minutes. You want the eggplant to be completely softened and lightly browned. Remove the eggplant from the oven and set aside.
  3. Lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees F.
  4. Heat 2 T. oil in a saucepan and saute the chopped onions for about 7 minutes until they are lightly browned and softened. Add garlic, chile flakes, cumin, cinnamon and tomato paste and stir it well. Continue to saute for 1 additional minute. Add the bell peppers, chickpeas, canned tomatoes, sugar, water, 1 1/4 t. salt and a generous grind of black pepper. Cook this mixture over medium heat for about 18 minutes. You want the bell peppers to soften. Stir 3/4 C. chopped cilantro into this mixture and remove from the heat and set aside.
  5. Lightly oil a large baking sheet. Spread half of the plum tomato slices on the bottom of the baking dish and half of the roasted eggplant slices. Spread the chickpea mixture on top of the tomatoes and eggplants. Next, top the chickpea mixture with the remaining tomato and eggplant slices. Drizzle about 1 T. of olive oil over the top of the dish, cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
  6. After 30 minutes of baking, remove the foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until the sauce in the dish is bubbling and the tomatoes have totally softened.
  7. Top with remaining chopped cilantro and serve warm or at room temperature. I enjoyed the dish with a dollop of Greek yogurt and a side of steamed rice to soak up the flavorful sauce.