Turkish stuffed eggplant

Pull the leaves off the eggplant and take exactly four equally spaced peels down each one, so the bottom peel sits flat and the top peel is where the belly is split.

Transfer to an oiled baking dish and bake in the centre of a 400 degree oven 45 minutes to an hour, until soft and spongy but not collapsing.

Saute the large onion in olive oil over medium high heat with a big pinch of salt until softened, translucent and a little golden.

Add the ground lamb and break it up fine with a spatula until it browns.

Add the garlic, black pepper, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, rosemary, tomato paste and salt and cook about two minutes to wake up the spices.

Stir in the diced chili peppers and cook three or four minutes until barely tender, then turn off the heat and cool about 10 minutes.

Stir in the finely grated sheep's milk cheese and taste for seasoning.

Cut through the peeled top of each eggplant about three quarters of the way down and pull it open with two spoons.

Spoon in the filling as evenly as possible, pressing gently so they do not burst, and decorate the tops with extra pepper strips.

Drizzle the tops with olive oil, pour the chicken broth into the dish and bake at 400 degrees about 45 minutes until a knife pierces the flesh with no resistance.

Serve with the drippings spooned over.