Papoutsakia Little Shoes Stuffed Miniature Eggplant Recipe Foodcom

EASY GREEK STUFFED EGGPLANT (PAPOUTSAKIA OR 'LITTLE SHOES'!)

Steps:

• Pre-heat the oven to 355F/180C. Slice each eggplant in half lengthwise. On the cut side, score around the edge of each, leaving around a 1cm border. Then on the inside, score in a criss-cross pattern. Go as deep as you can without slicing through the bottom of the eggplant. This isn't as tricky as it sounds!
• Place the eggplant halves on a large baking tray lined with baking paper. Brush all over with olive oil. Turn them over so that the cut side is now down. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the flesh of the eggplant is soft.
• Meanwhile, make your meat sauce. Heat a little olive oil in a large saucepan, then cook the onion for a few minutes. Add the garlic, cinnamon & oregano and cook for a minute longer.
• Add the meat to the pan and brown while breaking up with a wooden spoon.
• Add the tomato puree, water and wine. Simmer the sauce until it has thickened (about 30 minutes).
• Stir in the parsley and salt and pepper to taste.
• To make the béchamel, melt the butter in a medium saucepan, then stir in the flour until you have a paste.
• Take off the heat, then stir in the milk little by little.
• Put the pan back on the heat and stir until the sauce has thickened and is just bubbling. Add about three quarters of the cheese and all of the nutmeg.
• Let cool for about five minutes, then whisk in the egg yolks (whole eggs are OK too).
• Arrange the baked eggplant (cut side up) in a 12 x 9 inch baking dish.
• Use a big metal spoon to squash down the eggplant inside the border you scored.
• Spoon some of the meat sauce inside each eggplant. It's OK if it's piled up a bit.
• Top each stuffed eggplant with a few spoonfuls of the cooled bechamel sauce. Sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.
• Bake for 30 minutes or until the bechamel sauce is golden and bubbling. Serve with a Greek salad, toasted bread and tzatziki (or Greek yoghurt), or just a nice fresh green salad.

PAPOUTSAKIA

Steps:

• Trim the stems from the eggplant. Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise and, taking care not to break the skins, gently scoop out the flesh.
• Chop the flesh and set aside.
• Parboil the skins for 3 minutes, arrange in a lightly oiled baking dish and set aside.
• Heat 1/4 tablespoon of olive oil in a large non-stick pan, add the minced lamb and stir constantly, until all the meat is browned.
• Remove the meat, draining off any juices, and set aside.
• Add 3/4 tablespoon of olive oil to the same pan, add onions and garlic, and sauté until soft but not brown.
• Add the reserved eggplant flesh, tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste and stirring occasionally cook for 4-5 minutes, until contents of the pan have softened.
• Add the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.
• Add the wine and cook for 1 minute.
• Add the remaining ingredients. Check seasoning, and simmer for 45 minutes.
• Combine the yoghurt, eggs, cheese and nutmeg. Season to taste.
• Preheat oven to 180°C.
• Gently scoop the meat sauce into the eggplant skins which you placed earlier in a baking dish. (The liquid should have reduced sufficiently while the meat sauce was simmering but, if your sauce looks watery, drain off some of the liquid first. You could spoon it into the baking dish around the eggplant skins, or simply discard it.).
• Top the meat sauce-filled eggplant skins with your white sauce and sprinkle with grated Parmesan.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.
• Serve with a Greek salad, crusty rolls and the rest of the bottle of red wine.