Middle Eastern Lamb and Eggplant

Preheat the oven to 200°C/ 180°C fan. Cut the eggplants in half, lengthwise. Score them in a criss-cross pattern, around two thirds into the flesh. Place the eggplants on a baking tray, skin-side down. Drizzle with a generous lug of vegetable oil and season liberally with salt. Rub the salt and oil into the flesh with cleans hands. Roast for 30-35 min.

Meanwhile, peel and finely slice the shallots. Roughly chop the pine nuts. Chop the mint leaves finely. Peel and mince the garlic. Halve the pomegranate. Hold each pomegranate half over a large bowl, seeds facing down and hit the skin with a wooden spoon, squeezing a little to release the seeds. Discard the shell and membrane.

Add the crushed garlic, tahini, mayonnaise, natural yogurt, white vinegar, a splash of cold water and a pinch of salt to a bowl and whisk until fully combined - this is your tahini sauce.

Heat a large pan over a medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil. Once hot, add the lamb mince and fry for 5-6 min or until browned. Add the shallots, Ras el hanout and chilli flakes (spicy!) and cook for 3 min. Add the brown sugar and soy sauce and cook for 1 min. Remove the pan from the heat and add the pine nuts.

Once ready, pile the lamb crumble over the roasted eggplant halves. Drizzle with the tahini sauce and garnish with pomegranate seeds and chopped mint.