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Greek-Style Stuffed Eggplant: Melitzanes Paputsakia (Updated)
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Greek-Style Stuffed Eggplant: Melitzanes Paputsakia (Updated)



Get the recipe here: https://www.dimitrasdishes.com/melitzanes-papoutsakia-eggplant-stuffed-with-ground-meat-sauce-and-bechamel/

Ingredients
3 eggplants, washed and dried
1 pound ground beef, chicken or lamb
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
15 oz (425g) crushed tomatoes
4 garlic cloves, grated
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
a handful of fresh parsley, chopped
shredded or grated Parmesan/Kefalotiri cheese
For the Béchamel:

2 cups whole milk
5 tablespoon olive oil
4 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 eggs
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
pinch of ground nutmeg
about 2 cups of grated parmesan
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400 °F, 200 °C.
Slice the eggplants in half, lengthwise and cut criss-cross slits into the flesh being careful not to cut all the way down to the bottom. Place the slices into a baking pan.
Drizzle the eggplant slices with about a quarter cup of the olive oil. Add more if needed. Season the flesh side with salt and pepper.
Roast the eggplant slices in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes or until golden and tender.
Make the Meat Sauce: Add the onion, a quarter cup of olive oil, and a pinch of salt to a pot and cook over medium heat until soft and golden. About 10 minutes. Add the garlic and warm through until fragrant. Add the ground meat and cook until no longer pink. Season with salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes. Add the tomato and a cup of water. Cook the sauce over medium-high heat until thickened. About 25 minutes. Remove from heat and add the oregano and chopped parsley. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
Make the Bechamel Sauce: Add the olive oil and flour to a saucepan and cook over medium heat until toasted. Add the milk, salt, pepper, and ground nutmeg. Whisk together and cook until it comes to a boil and thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat.
In another bowl beat the eggs until smooth and add some of the hot bechamel to the eggs. Whisk together to temper the eggs. Add the egg mixture to the pot and whisk together. Add the cheese and mix it until incorporated.
Assemble the Papoutsakia:
Mash the eggplant flesh to make room for the filling.
Sprinkle the top of the eggplant with some grated cheese. Divide the meat sauce equally. Top with béchamel sauce and then sprinkle the top with more cheese.
Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.
Kali Orexi!Music Used:
Greek Sun Time (With Intro)
ITEM ID: 66582698
By: tonyanthony

Its All Greek
ITEM ID: 84456733
By: LowNotes

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36 Comments

  2. Jackie Mota

    Yummy delicious I love it that you can make it ahead and freeze it and eat it later . 👍👏👏👏👏👏

  7. Evie K

    This looks inviting for sure! I can’t wait until summer for our fresh eggplants. Thank you ❤

  9. kate

    Thank you so much Dimitra, I was just wondering if l could freeze them when you answered, question 🎶🎵🎼

  11. m a

    Hello Dimitra
    Awesome as always , cheers 👍👍👍🥀🍀🌹🍃⚘🍂🪴

  14. Maria Koufalis

    I always add a smidge of nutmeg in my bechamel and sprinkle cinnamon on top. Very subtle flavours that elevates the overall taste.

  15. Pictureasunrise

    That looks absolutely delicious! ( say it slowly, like I did!) Thank you for making yummy, delicious videos. I have made so many of your dishes, before even the pandemic. Open my world of cooking techniques, and great flavors.

  21. cami zahn

    This looks amazing! And much easier to make than moussaka! Can't wait to try this! Thanks for sharing the recipe!😊

  22. Ayumi Horsfall

    What is the best oven tempreture and time for cook from frozen? Would it be fine to freeze as it is, the meat on the eggplant? Thank you.

  26. Tasha Topalakis

    Very, very enticing, especially the eggplant sliced thru, baked, then baked again with groundbeef & bechamel sauce.! Cannot wait to make!! ❤

  28. Paul Nunnen

    Lovely recipe (Iman with meat) disagree with no cinnamon in the meat sauce but yes to the chilli flakes and even though we in Crete enjoy salt in our food your recipe is ( in my opinion) to many pinches 😊 otherwise a certainly enjoyable recipe 😋 xx

  31. Z G

    They called little shoes cause once baked they assemble "tsarouxia" a traditional type of shoe from the 1800s

  32. Luther Hendricks

    I am making this tonight, but with a twist. The sauce is left over from yesterday's batch of pasta sauce with hot Italian sausage meat and instead of that lovely béchamel you made, I am topping it with grated five cheese Italian mix from the grocery store because I am lazy. 😀 It should be great and lower on the carb scale.

  35. Alexandria Bedore

    Made this today & it’s sooooo good! I added 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon to the meat sauce & it tastes so similar to my favorite Greek restaurant’s moussaka. Thanks for sharing!

  36. Penny lane

    I made this yesterday and I lost my mind bc It was so delicious. I’m the biggest fan of your cooking channel. My family is loving everything, the crinkle cake, zucchini Galette and lots of incredible Greek desserts. I just bought semolina and your favorite Greek honey.

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