Greek Stuffed Eggplant (Papoutsakia)
Serves 4
10 mins prep
90 mins cook
100 mins total
This stuffed eggplant recipe is known as papoutsakia in a Greek kitchen and it's stuffed with delicious meat filling and topped with a creamy bechamel sauce. You'll love it!
For the meatsauce
For the bechamel
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<strong>Prep the eggplants</strong>
Preheat the oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice the eggplants in half and skor the flesh diagonally.
Season the eggplants with lots of salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Place the egg plants on a parchment lined baking sheet, flesh side down and bake for 25-30 minutes until softened and golden brown - you can also test the doneness by piercing with a fork and they should be fork tender.
Set aside flesh side up on the baking sheet. Scoop out the inside of each eggplant gently, leaving about 1/4-1/2 inch of flesh inside of each.
Make the meatsauce
While the eggplants are baking, make the meatsauce: Add olive oil to a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot and celery and cook until softened, about 4-5 minutes.
Stir in the ground beef, stirring occasionally to break up the meat and cook for about 10-12 minutes until cooked through.
Pour in the red wine to deglaze the pan. Cook it for a few minutes until most of the wine has evaporated.
Stir in the garlic, spices (salt, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, dried basil, all spice) and bay leaves until incorporated. Next stir in the diced or whole tomatoes (if using whole tomatoes crush them up a bit when added to the pot), sugar, tomato paste and water and bring to a boil. Once simmering, turn the heat to medium-low and let simmer with the lid on until the sauce has cooked down and most of the liquid has evaporated.
Stir in shredded parmesan cheese at the end and set aside.
Make the bechamel.
Whisk the 2 eggs together in a bowl and set aside.
Make the bechamel by adding butter to a medium frying pan or pot over medium-low heat. When the butter is melted, add the flour and whisk constantly until a paste forms.
Stir in the milk in 1/2 cup increments, whisking constantly after each addition to make sure the sauce doesn’t get lumpy. Continue whisking and add in salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in whisked eggs, whisking quickly to combine and make sure the eggs don't get lumpy. Put back on low heat for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, continue whisking - the sauce should be smooth and sort of consistency of a cheese sauce. Set aside.
Bake the eggplants
Preheat the oven to 350F. Place the eggplants back on the baking sheet. Divide the meatsauce between the eggplants and then spoon the bechamel sauce over each one.
Bake for 20-30 minutes or until they are a bit golden brown around the edges.
Remove from the oven and enjoy as a main dish with a side of our Greek salad or our homemade pitas.
