Eggplant Dolma

Oh, it's been a week again. Here I was, doing so well posting more than once every week or two, and then the upcoming vector analysis exam needed to be studied for. It's either going to be incredibly difficult, or shockingly easy. We'll see I guess.

Anyway, I'd intended to live in the realm of squash and beans and potatoes and cabbage, but a trip to the farmer's market (where we'd gone to get some of that amazing beef sausage) turned up some adorable little round eggplants, and I needed to have those too. Seeing as squash can last nearly the entire winter, I decided to put it off in favour of the eggplants. Typically we think of dolma as being stuffed grape leaves, but really the word just means "stuffed thing" and can apply to myriad stuffables. These little eggplants really just begged to be filled with yummies. Normally we get the beef sausage from the market, but they were out (which is what you get if you show up 30 minutes before closing time), so instead we picked a nice looking fresh pork polish sausage. I think for this recipe, any fresh sausage will do. I hope you enjoy!

6 ounces fresh sausage, crumbled
1 shallot, finely minced
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
2 garlic cloves, smashed into paste
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons bulgur wheat
1/2 teaspoon each: tumeric, aleppo pepper, marjoram
1/3 reserved eggplant innards, finely chopped
6 small eggplants

1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
pinch salt
1/2 cup vegetable broth
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2/3 reserved eggplant innards, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 375F. Make a thin slice on the bottom of each eggplant so it can stand upright. Slice off top, then use a melon baller to hollow them out, leaving some flesh inside each eggplant. Finely chop the eggplant flesh that's been removed from the eggplants, and set aside. Mix together (use your hands) the entire first group of ingredients except the whole eggplants. Stuff this mixture into the eggplants, packing it in tightly. Mix together tomato sauce, salt, remainder of broth and lemon juice. Pour into the bottom of your pan, then stand the eggplants in the pan. Put in the oven for one hour, or until the eggplants are soft and the filling is cooked through. Transfer to plates and spoon sauce over the eggplants. Serves 2.