MembersVegetable Sauce With Meatballs

Avraham is my favorite vegetable vendor, and his produce is preferred in all my dishes. One day, he pressed a large sack into my hands and said the vegetables inside were too large. No one would buy them. But he was sure I’d know what to do with them. Inside, I found enormous onions, a large seedless eggplant and juicy tomatoes. Indeed, I knew exactly what to do.

Chef Yagil’s Tips:

• The baharat or ras el hanout spice mixtures are, at least in this region, typically prepared by respective shopkeepers according to old family recipes. They can usually be found in Middle Eastern or Turkish food and spice shops.

• I add meatballs to the dish, which absorb all the wonderful flavor from the sauce.

• Leave the eggplant slices to rest on kitchen paper as they release as much liquid as possible. To aid this effort, I sprinkle them with salt and place the eggplant in the sun. After being fried, return the eggplant slices to kitchen...