Baked Vegetables with beef and tomato & pomegranate sauce

This recipe is a favorite of mine, called hayet al omam. It a more flavorful combination for the Arabic baked potatoes. It combines vegetables that are popular around winter, stuffed in spiced ground beef and pine nuts and then baked to perfection in a tomato sauce with pomegranate molasse. It’s a heartwarming dish enjoyed in Lebanon with a side of rice. And it comes together quicker than you might expect!

Recipe: (This recipe is baked in a 9 x 13 in pan)

6 russet potatoes, peeled and cored

1 eggplant, peeled and sliced into 2 in. rounds

2 tomatoes, top sliced and seeds out

1 carrot, diced into cubes

2 cup frozen peas

* you can also add koussa or Arabic zucchini (I didn’t have any available)

Beef filling:

1 lb. ground beef

1 1/4 tsp Lebanese 7 spices

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup pine nuts

Sauce:

1 can tomato sauce or 1 1/2 cup tomato sauce

4 1/2 cups water

1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses

1 tsp salt

You can enjoy this dish with a side of jasmine rice or vermicelli rice, I made 3 cups of jasmine rice (3 cups measurement for uncooked rice) and sprinkle cinnamon on the rice.

Baking Directions: bake this dish at 450 F for 40 min. then remove foil and broil on high for 5 min to create golden brown top potatoes.

Based on the type of potato, you might need to bake it 30 min or 50 min. just insert a knife into the potato to determine doneness. Everything else would be perfectly baked once the potato is baked because its the largest vegetable.