Mediterranean casserole with minced meat, rice and feta cheese

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 500 g minced meat, beef or mixed
• 1 eggplant(s)
• 1 leek(s)
• 2 spring onions
• 1 onion(s), red
• 2 half bell peppers, red and green
• 250 g tomatoes (Pizza tomatoes)
• 250 g sheep’s cheese
• 1 cup basmati or jasmine rice
• 1 tsp spice mix (Ras-el-Hanout) or alternatively a little cinnamon, nutmeg, chili, pepper, ginger, clove, allspice, anise
• ¼ tsp rosemary
• ¼ tsp basil
• ¼ tsp thyme
• ¼ tsp sage
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tsp beef broth, granulated
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Total time approx. 45 minutes

Very aromatic!

The recipe can be prepared in stages: chop vegetables, cook rice, brown ground meat, etc. Place one cup of rice in a medium-sized pot, add two cups of water, and add salt. Set the heat to maximum, cover the rice, and bring to a boil. Then turn off the heat and let the rice simmer, covered, on the stovetop for about 20 minutes. While the rice is cooking, dice half a bell pepper, finely chop the onion, roughly chop the leek, roughly chop the spring onions, and finely chop the garlic. Cut the feta cheese into cubes about 1 cm³ in size. Cut the eggplant into slices about 1 cm thick, place on kitchen paper, and add salt. Wait about 15 minutes until the water starts to run out, then pat dry on both sides. Then dice the eggplant. Sauté the onions, leeks, spring onions, and 1 garlic clove in a pan in about 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat until lightly browned. Add half the amount of ras el hanout, the granulated beef stock, the tomatoes, and the bell pepper. Stir regularly, bring to a boil briefly, then remove everything from the pan and set aside. In the same pan, brown the minced meat in 3 tablespoons of olive oil, add the rosemary, basil, thyme, sage, the remaining ras el hanout, and 1 garlic clove. When the minced meat is browned and crumbly, remove it from the pan directly onto the cooked rice, but do not mix it in yet! Sauté the eggplant and the remaining garlic in about 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat, season with salt and pepper. Now add the reserved vegetables (they should be quite liquid due to the tomatoes) and the eggplant to the rice pot with the minced meat and mix everything well with a wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper, but be careful with the salt; the feta cheese is quite salty. Fill a casserole dish with a layer of the rice mixture from the pot, about 2 cm thick. Add a layer of feta cheese, then the remaining rice mixture. Cover with the remaining feta cheese. Cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil and bake at 200 degrees Celsius for about 30 minutes, removing the foil during the last 5 minutes.