Papoutsakia (Greek Stuffed Eggplant)
- Bobbi Jo Lathan
- Mar 7
- 4 min read
Here’s another one of my scary ex-Greek mother-in-law’s delicious recipes. It’s made with little eggplants, a meat sauce filling, and topped with a cheesy Béchamel, or Mornay sauce. The Greeks call the dish Melizanes Papoutsakia, which, in English, means “little shoes”, because that’s what they look like.
Now, my ex-Greek-mother-in-law was a great cook, and one of her sons, Jack, was a fabulous chef on both the Onassis and Fleishman yachts. So, when the two of them got together in her kitchen, you knew you were in for a real Greek treat! However, they each had their own special ways of making these delicious “little shoes.” When Mama made the dish, she scooped out the pulp, or meat, of the eggplant and then fried the shells in a little olive oil to harden them up so they’d hold the meat mixture. She also topped them with a regular Béchamel sauce.
Jack, on the other hand, would slice the eggplants, lengthwise, score the top of the pulp/meat of each one, coat them in some olive oil and bake them on a cooking sheet. Then, when they came out of the oven, he’d just smash down the soft, cooked pulp, place the meat mixture on top of the pulp, and then top with the Béchamel sauce made with some grated Kefalotyri cheese, (A REALLY wonderful Greek cheese) making it a dee-lish-us Mornay sauce, and then bake again ‘til nicely browned.
Frankly, I liked Jack’s way of making these cute “little shoes” just because I LOVE Kefalotyri cheese, and because you got all the separate textures in one bite! (But, PLEASE don’t tell my scary ex-Greek mother-in-law I said that!!)
Melitzanes Papoutsakia (Greek Stuffed Eggplant)
PREP TIME
10 mins
COOK TIME
70 mins
TOTAL TIME
1 hour 20 mins
Recipe by: Bobbi Jo Lathan
Recipe type: Entree
Cuisine: Greek
INGREDIENTS
For Meat Sauce:
6 small eggplants
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium-sized onion (chopped)
2 fresh garlic cloves (finely chopped)
1 pound of ground beef (I like the organic grass-fed as it is less greasy and more lean)
1 cup crushed tomatoes
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon cinnamon (or 1 cinnamon stick)
1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
3 tablespoons fresh parsley (chopped)
1 cup Kefalotyri cheese (grated-note: you can also use grated Parmesan or Pecorino, but you can get Kefalotyri online)
For the Bechamel Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 ¼ cups milk
2 egg yolks
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon of freshly ground nutmeg
½ cup Kefolatyri cheese (grated)
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat your oven to 350°.
Now, you’re gonna want to git some small eggplants. I like the Chinese eggplants because they are less bitter, but the skin is thinner and you’re gonna need a thicker skin to hold the meat mixture in place. In other words, you’ll have to leave more pulp above the skin of the eggplant when you scoop out the pulp.
Wash your eggplants and dry with a paper towel. Next, cut your eggplants, lengthwise. If there’s a stem, I keep it intact.
Scoop out the pulp from the eggplant using a spoon or small knife. If you score the top of the pulp after you cut it, it’ll be easier to scoop out. BUT, only scoop out enough pulp to leave at least ⅛th or ¼th of the eggplant meat in the shell. ( If there’s any really big seeds in the center of the eggplant, scoop them from the pulp and discard them. )
Chop the pulp and place the pulp in a separate bowl to add to the meat mixture in a minute. Salt and pepper the eggplant boats.
Git out your skillet and heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over a medium heat. Place the eggplant boats that you’ve just cut into the hot oil in your skillet, skin side up, and fry them for about 3-4 minutes on the skin side and then flip them over and fry on the other side. This will strengthen the outer skin and soften the eggplant inside the lining.
Take them out with some tongs and place them on a long cooking pan or sheet covered in parchment paper. Now, they’re ready to fill.
Once you’ve removed the boats, in that same skillet, add the chopped onions and garlic. (You can add a little more olive oil if needed.)
When the onions are translucent, add the pulp from the eggplant. Stir it around and let it cook for another 3-4 minutes.
Now, stir in the ground beef and cook ‘til browned.
Now that the meat is browned, add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, cinnamon stick, oregano, thyme, and parsley, and stir together until well blended.
Let this simmer for about 20 more minutes.
While that’s cookin’ we’ll make the béchamel sauce. Now, git yourself a saucepan, place it on the burner over a medium to low heat. Warm the milk.
In another little saucepan, melt the butter over a medium heat.
Once it’s melted and becomes all frothy, add the flour and whisk continuously, until the lumps are gone.
Add the warmed milk, a little bit at a time, and keep whisking until the sauce begins to thicken, but is still nice and creamy.
Remove the saucepan from the burner and add the salt, pepper and nutmeg. Wait about 2 minutes for the sauce to cool down a little bit.
Then, add egg yolks, whisking quickly into the sauce until blended, which makes a beautiful, smooth sauce.
Sprinkle the inside of each eggplant boat with some of the grated Kefolatyri cheese. Then, spoon some meat mixture into each boat, over that grated cheese. Next, top the meat mixture in each eggplant with the béchamel sauce. Lastly, sprinkle the remaining Kefolatyri cheese over the béchamel sauce on each eggplant.
Now, bake them little shoe beauties in your 350 oven for about an hour and 15 minutes until the tops are all nicely browned. And, serve ‘em while they’re still warm!
Add a little Greek salad and some fresh bread, and you’ve got yourself a meal that will please all your hungry Zorbas! OPA! And YUM!