{"id":1328,"date":"2024-05-27T12:33:49","date_gmt":"2024-05-27T12:33:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homekitchennotes.com\/smittenkitchen\/2024\/05\/27\/lentil-musaqaa\/"},"modified":"2024-07-30T06:30:42","modified_gmt":"2024-07-30T06:30:42","slug":"lentil-musaqaa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homekitchennotes.com\/ja\/lentil-musaqaa\/","title":{"rendered":"Lentil Musaqa\u2019a"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Musaqa\u2019a, traditionally made with ground beef and eggplant, is one of Aisha Abdel Gawad\u2019s father\u2019s favorite Egyptian dishes. Her husband, on the other hand, is vegetarian\u2014and isn\u2019t a fan of eggplant.\u00a0Gawad created this version of musaqa\u2019a to appeal to meat eaters and vegetarians alike. (Read her essay about it here.) Her solution is to trade meat for lentils in the richly spiced tomato sauce that gets layered between eggplant slices.\u00a0The lentils add a nice heartiness to the dish, while smoky eggplant lend that meaty texture.\u00a0The result closely resembles classic versions but can satisfy everyone.\u00a0Top with a salty cheese like feta for a creamy finish. Eat it as is or over rice like her 5-year-old likes to do.<\/p>\n<div>\n<h2>Ingredients<\/h2>\n<p>4\u20136 servings<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>2<\/p>\n<div>lb. Italian eggplants (5\u20136 medium), cut into \u00be&#8221;-thick rounds<\/div>\n<p>\u00bc<\/p>\n<div>cup plus 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil; plus more for drizzling<\/div>\n<p>2<\/p>\n<div>tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1\u00bc tsp. Morton kosher salt, plus more<\/div>\n<div>Freshly ground pepper<\/div>\n<p>1<\/p>\n<div>medium onion, finely chopped<\/div>\n<p>2<\/p>\n<div>medium green bell peppers, ribs and seeds removed, finely chopped<\/div>\n<p>5<\/p>\n<div>garlic cloves, finely chopped<\/div>\n<p>1<\/p>\n<div>tsp. ground cumin<\/div>\n<p>\u00bd<\/p>\n<div>tsp. crushed red pepper flakes<\/div>\n<p>\u00bd<\/p>\n<div>tsp. ground cinnamon<\/div>\n<p>\u00bd<\/p>\n<div>tsp. ground coriander<\/div>\n<p>1<\/p>\n<div>14.5-oz. can crushed tomatoes<\/div>\n<p>2<\/p>\n<div>cups low-sodium vegetable broth<\/div>\n<p>1<\/p>\n<div>cup split red lentils, rinsed<\/div>\n<p>1<\/p>\n<div>Tbsp. pomegranate molasses<\/div>\n<p>2<\/p>\n<div>Tbsp. chopped cilantro, plus leaves for serving<\/div>\n<p>\u00bc<\/p>\n<div>cup crumbled feta<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<h2>Preparation<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>\n<h4>Step 1<\/h4>\n<p>Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 400\u00b0. Divide <strong>2 lb. Italian eggplants (5\u20136 medium), cut into \u00be&#8221;-thick rounds<\/strong>, between 2 rimmed baking sheets and drizzle with <strong>extra-virgin olive oil<\/strong>; turn to coat. Season with <strong>kosher salt<\/strong> and <strong>freshly ground black pepper<\/strong>. Roast until golden and tender, 30\u201335 minutes.<\/p>\n<h4>Step 2<\/h4>\n<p>Meanwhile, heat <strong>\u00bc cup extra-virgin olive oil<\/strong> in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium. Cook <strong>1 medium onion, finely chopped<\/strong>, stirring often, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add <strong>2 medium green bell peppers, ribs and seeds removed, finely chopped<\/strong>, and <strong>5 garlic cloves, finely chopped<\/strong>; cook, stirring, until garlic is softened, about 1 minute. Add <strong>1 tsp. ground cumin<\/strong>, <strong>\u00bd tsp. crushed red pepper flakes<\/strong>, <strong>\u00bd tsp. ground cinnamon<\/strong>, <strong>\u00bd tsp. ground coriander<\/strong>, and <strong>2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1\u00bc tsp. Morton kosher salt<\/strong>. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.<\/p>\n<h4>Step 3<\/h4>\n<p>Add <strong>one 14.5-oz. can crushed tomatoes<\/strong>, <strong>2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth<\/strong>, <strong>1 cup split red lentils, rinsed<\/strong>, and 1 cup water and stir to combine. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally and adding up to \u00bd cup more water if needed, until lentils are tender, 30\u201335 minutes (sauce should be Bolognese-like in consistency). Remove from heat and stir in <strong>1 Tbsp. pomegranate molasses<\/strong> and <strong>2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro<\/strong>. Taste sauce and season with more salt if needed.<\/p>\n<h4>Step 4<\/h4>\n<p>Spread 2 cups sauce in a 13&#215;9&#8243; baking dish. Top with half of eggplant slices. Repeat with another layer of sauce, then remaining eggplant. Drizzle remaining <strong>1 Tbsp. oil extra-virgin olive oil<\/strong> over. Cover tightly with foil.<\/p>\n<h4>Step 5<\/h4>\n<p>Bake musaqa\u2019a 10 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake until bubbling, 10\u201315 minutes more. Let cool 5 minutes. Top with <strong>\u00bc cup crumbled feta<\/strong> and cilantro leaves.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Musaqa\u2019a, traditionally made with ground beef and eggplant, is one of Aisha Abdel Gawad\u2019s father\u2019s favorite Egyptian dishes. Her husband, on the other hand, is vegetarian\u2014and isn\u2019t a fan of eggplant.\u00a0Gawad created this version of musaqa\u2019a to appeal to meat eaters and vegetarians alike. (Read her essay about it here.) Her solution is to trade [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-veggielicious-eats"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/homekitchennotes.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/homekitchennotes.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/homekitchennotes.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homekitchennotes.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homekitchennotes.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1328"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/homekitchennotes.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5142,"href":"https:\/\/homekitchennotes.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1328\/revisions\/5142"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homekitchennotes.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/homekitchennotes.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homekitchennotes.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homekitchennotes.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}