Cinnamon roasted eggplant
1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C on bake. Cut the eggplants in half lengthways and score on the diagonal to create a diamond pattern. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with the cinnamon, sugar and salt to taste.
2. Place on a baking tray and roast for an hour or until the eggplant is soft and browned. Cool, then cut up into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
Pie filling
1. Pre-heat oven to 100°C on bake. Cut the lamb into 2cm cubes and place in a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle over the thyme, sumac, 2 tsp ground coriander and 2 tsp cinnamon. Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed frying pan and fry the lamb in batches until browned. Set aside.
2. In the same pan, add a little more olive oil and gently fry the garlic, shallots and chilli until soft. Give them a good 15 – 20 minutes so that they start to develop a sweetness to them.
3. Return the meat to the pan and then add the porter and stock, deglazing the pan. Cook for a minute or two before adding the tomato paste and stir to combine.
4. Place the lid on the frying pan and place in the oven. Cook for 8 hours or overnight until the meat is tender and falling apart. You could also do this in a slow cooker.
5. Remove the pan from the oven and place on an element over a medium-low heat. Sift in the flour and stir to combine, avoiding lumps. Cook for about an hour, reducing the liquid so that you end up with a thick gravy.
6. Lastly add the coriander, pinenuts and roasted eggplant.
Quick flakey pastry
1. Sift the flour into a large bowl, add the salt and stir. Grate in the butter, dipping it into the flour from time-to-time to make it easier. As you go, use a butter knife to stir the butter into the flour.
2. Once the butter is all grated, give the mixture another good mix with the butter knife, continuing to mix while you gradually add the water.
3. Finally, using your hands, bring the dough together, wrap with cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
To assemble
1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C on bake. Roll out the pastry and cut out 10 rounds to line the pie tins, and 10 rounds which will become the tops. I used 90mm pie tins.
2. Line the pie tins and fill with pie filling up to the top edge of the tins. You want the pastry to drape over the edges so that you have something to crimp the tops onto to seal the pies.
3. Place the tops on the pies and either use a fork, or your finger to crimp the tops to the bottoms. Using a sharp knife, slit the tops of each pie then brush with the egg. Bake for 30 minutes or until the pies puff up and turn a golden brown.
