Sultan’s delight – lamb meat with eggplants in a béchamel sauce
The name of the dish literally means “the sultan liked it”

Sultan's delight

INGREDIENTS:
500 g lamb meat
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1-2 green peppers
4 tomatoes or 400 g canned tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1 tablespoon pepper puree
1 cup water
black pepper
salt

1 cup = 250 ml

For the Béchamel sauce with eggplants:
3 eggplants
60 g butter
50 g all-purpose flour
500 ml milk
50 g grated hard cheese (yellow cheese, Cheddar or Parmesan)
nutmeg
black pepper
salt

fresh parsley for sprinkling

PREPARATION:
Béchamel sauce with eggplants
Bake the eggplants in the oven at 200°C for about 40-45 minutes until they soften. You can bake them in a grill pan too by turning them around so that they get baked from all sides. Leave them to chill. Peel them and cut them into small pieces.
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour and cook for a few minutes. Lower the heat and add the milk. Cook while stirring continuously until the sauce thickens. Season with nutmeg, salt and black pepper. When it starts boiling remove it from the heat and add the grated cheese. Stir until the cheese melts and add the pieces of eggplants. Stir to combine them.

Cut the lamb meat into cubes and season it with salt and black pepper. Put it into a pan together with the olive oil and butter and cook for a few minutes. Add the onion, garlic and green pepper, all chopped into small pieces. Fry until the vegetables become soft and the meat begins to brown. Add the peeled and cut tomatoes, tomato puree and pepper puree. Add a cup of water (250 ml), season with salt and black pepper and cook over low heat under a lid for about an hour until the sauce evaporates.

Put a layer of the Béchamel sauce with eggplants and then follow up with the meat pieces. Sprinkle with fresh parsley.

Sultan's delight

Sultan's delight