Lamb Chops baked with Aubergines

This one has a decidedly Greek flavour with its hint of cinnamon and oregano. Since both meat and vegetables are cooked together, it's an easy dish to prepare – but it's also rich, so needs only plain boiled potatoes or pilaff rice to go with it.

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  Serves 1

Ingredients
2 loin lamb chops, trimmed of most of their fat
1 smallish aubergine weighing approximately 7 oz (200 g)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 smallish onion, roughly chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
a pinch of ground cinnamon
2 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped, or 2 heaped dessertspoons of chopped tinned Italian tomatoes
1 teaspoon chopped parsley
salt and freshly milled black pepper
½ level teaspoon oregano
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 5, 375°F (190°C).

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Equipment
You will also need a small flameproof casserole.

Method

First prepare the aubergine. You need to get rid of some of its excess juice, so slice it in quarters lengthways then slice each quarter in two lengthways, then finally cut these across into ½ inch (1 cm) pieces. Now spread them out on a plate, sprinkle them with about a teaspoon of salt, and then toss them around in the salt. Place them in a colander, press them down with a small plate and weight this down with a heavy scale-weight or something similar. Leave for 20 minutes, then transfer the aubergine pieces to a clean tea-cloth, squeezing each handful to extract as much of the juice as possible – then dry them in the cloth.

Now heat the oil in a small flameproof casserole and fry the onion in it for 5 minutes, then add the aubergine pieces and fry these, stirring them around in the oil until they begin to colour. Next add the garlic, oregano and cinnamon. Stir and cook for a few more seconds before adding the tomatoes. Mix everything together and season well with salt and pepper.Next, sit the lamb chops on top of the vegetables, season and brush them with a little oil from the vegetables, then place the casserole (without a lid) in the oven for about 30 minutes – or until the lamb is cooked to your liking.

Then serve the chops with the aubergines spooned over and a sprinkling of fresh chopped parsley.

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