Papoutsakia
Greek Stuffed Eggplant, aka Papoutsakia or “Eggplant shoes” because the eggplant looks like little shoes! :-)
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Trim ends from the eggplant and halve lengthwise.
Place eggplant in a colander and sprinkle lightly with salt and set the eggplant aside for 30 minutes - 1 hour. This step takes out the bitterness from the eggplant and makes it tender.
Use a sharp knife to criss-cross and score the flesh of the eggplant. Please only puncture the flesh of the eggplant and do not cut deep to the skin. Brush eggplant flesh with olive oil, season with salt, pepper and oregano.
Place the eggplant halves on a parchment lined baking pan, cut sides down. Bake 30-40 minutes, until they’re softened and lightly golden. Remove from oven and set aside.
Meat sauce- while the eggplants are baking start the meat sauce. In a large pan or deep skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, add in the garlic and cook for another 4 minutes. Add the ground meat, stir lightly and saute for 10 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, sugar and cinnamon, raise heat to medium-high and simmer for at least 20 minutes until most of the liquid cooks off. Remove from heat, add the cheese and parsley. Set aside to cool.
While the meat sauce is simmering, prepare the bechamel sauce.
Bechamel- Add butter to a small pot over medium-low heat. Once it melts add the flour, salt, pepper and stir continually for a few minutes. Gradually add the lukewarm milk, add a little at time where the milk will last about 3 pours. When you add a little milk, stir vigorously until the milk is incorporated, doing this each time the milk is added.
Remove from heat, add the nutmeg, cheese, egg yolks, salt and pepper. Continue to stir till sauce thickens.
Assembling - Use a spoon to lightly press down the soft eggplant meat. And I mean very gently and just a LITTLE if needed to have room for the meat. Spoon the meat mixture into the eggplant halves. Top with bechamel sauce and bake in preheated 350°F oven for 20 minutes or until browned.
Ingredients
4 medium eggplants
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt, pepper, oregano to taste
Ground meat sauce
1 lb ground lamb, or beef if you prefer
1 onion, minced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
3 medium fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 can chopped tomatoes
2/3 cup kefalotyri (if you can find it) and pecorino or parmesean instead
1 pinch of sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons parsley
salt and pepper to taste
Bechamel sauce
1 1/8 cup lukewarm milk
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup kefalotyri (if you can find it) and pecorino or parmesean instead
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
