The Greek Food

The Greek Food
  • Home
    • Blog
    • Contact
    • Easter in Greece
  • Recipes
    • Vegetarian
    • Traditional
    • Seafood
    • Salads
    • Desserts
    • Soup
    • Sauces
    • Special
    • Meat Recipes
      • Beef
      • Chicken
      • Lamb
      • Pork
    • Photos
  • Ingredients
    • Feta
    • Bread
    • Olives
    • Yogurt
    • Wines
    • Herbs and Spices
    • Ouzo
  • Glossary
  • About
⁄ SEARCH

Papoutsakia (Stuffed Eggplants)

Aug 17, 2011 26 min read In: Beef By: The Chef 2 Comments
Papoutsakia (Stuffed Eggplants)

Papoutsakia (Stuffed Eggplants)

Aug 17, 2011 26 min read In: Beef By: The Chef 2 Comments

Papoutsakia is one of the classic Greek recipes you can find anywhere on Greece during summer time. It’s one of those that I always disliked when I was young but like many others i learned to appreciate as I grew older.

Maybe it’s the minced meat, maybe the cream on top, or maybe the eggplants that make me like it so much now…Either way, I cooked it some hours ago and I believe was one of my best ever efforts…

So let’s get quickly into action. The recipe is called Papoutsakia (=small shoes), or stuffed eggplants.

Like many things in Greece this recipe is closely connected with our Turkish neighbours as you will find that eggplants are a common thing on our cuisine. Back in the days of the Ottoman empire they have created a thousand different ways to cook eggplants. Some of them were obviously introduced to Greece during the Ottoman occupation.

However, the Greek version includes a lush topping of béchamel sauce, a relatively new addition to this dish introduced by the famous Greek chef Tselementes back in 1920. His books shared his vision for a refined Greek cuisine and confronted many traditional recipes to the French cuisine. This explains the addition of French cooking element to this recipe and many others like the famous Greek moussaka.

Many people though try variations of this recipe without a bechamel sauce. Some, just add cheese on top or others make there own sauces with yogurt. Nevertheless, the following is as much as closer to the traditional recipe my mother used to cook for us during our childhood.

INGREDIENTS FOR  PAPOUTSAKIA

  • 2-3 eggplants (one per person)
  • 500 grs of beef minced meat
  • 1 chopped onion
  • 1-2 slices of garlic
  • 1 can of chopped tomatoes
  • A small bunch of parsley
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • Olive Oil
  • Red Wine
  • 3 teaspoons of butter
  • 4 teaspoons of flour
  • 3 glasses of milk
  • 1 egg
  • salt, cinnamon , nutmeg

HOW YOU COOK PAPOUTSAKIA

Slice the eggplants lengthwise to create 6 pieces. Put some olive oil on top of them and place them in an oven dish. Bake in the 180oC for 40 minutes or until you see that the inside flesh is soft and tender.

When they are done, you take a fork/knife or anything that helps you and empty the flesh of the eggplant and keep it in a bowl as we will add it to the meat we are going to prepare.

No flesh eggplants!! :)
No flesh eggplants!! 🙂

In a frying pan we put the chopped onion and the chopped slices of garlic and we saute them. Afterwards we add the minced meat in medium heat and stir.

When it starts get to brown pour the red wine and lower the heat. When the wine is more or less evaporated we add the can of chopped tomatoes, salt, pepper, the cinnamon stick, and parsley and let it boil for half an hour. Make sure to add a little bit of water if you have to.

Now for the béchamel Sauce, Ok I have to admit it was the first time I did it so… Melt the butter in a nonstick pan and add the flour and stir. You have to becareful, you need to stir all the time so it won’t stick. Pour the milk and continue whisking to prevent clotting. Remove the pot from the fire, and put the egg and mix. Finally the salt cinnamon and nutmeg.

View this post on Instagram

Basically i spoke with my mother recently and told her how i cooked papoutsakia and she got jealous… so she made also and send me back a step by step preparation. Now i am jealous…pfff #viciouscircle #thegreekfood #greekfood #greece #greekmothers #papoutsakia #aubergines #recipeontheblog #instafood #foodporn #foodie #foodphotography #greece🇬🇷

A post shared by Antonis (@thegreekfood) on Jul 18, 2019 at 2:02am PDT

  • Casserole Beef with Peas

    Casserole Beef with Peas

    Apr 28, 2011
  • Pastitsada from Corfu

    Pastitsada from Corfu

    Nov 14, 2017
  • Beef Rib Eye Stake with Portobello mushrooms

    Beef Rib Eye Stake with Portobello mushrooms

    Oct 25, 2011

2 Comments

  1. Random 12 years ago Reply

    does it taste as good as your mum’s ?  That is the question!

    • thegreekfood 12 years ago Reply

      lol …well my brother liked it so… 🙂

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

  • Recent Posts

    • Salmon with lentils and wholegrain mustard sauce.
    • Greek Pastitsio recipe
    • Christmas Customs: Breaking the pomegranate
    • Hake in the oven with mustard and ginger
    • What is a Gyro? The origins of the special Greek delicacy
  • Seasonal

    Greek Beef Soup

    Beef soup with vegetables

    Beef soup was never my favourite when i was young, but with some small moderations maybe that is about to change… Read More about “Beef soup with vegetables”…

  • Traditional

    Spetsofai: Traditional stew with sausages and peppers from Volos

    This is a recipe for Spetsofai which is widely consumed in Thesalia, in the center of Greece.

  • About Greece

    greek food festival

    The best Greek Food Festivals

The Greek Food
Copyright © 2014 TheGreekFood
⁄ SEARCH