Greek Recipes
Victoria’s Papoutsakia – Greek Stuffed Eggplant with Feta Recipe
A recipe from @cucina_victoria
Victoria from @cucina_victoria has generously shared a beautiful variation of Papoutstakia – Stuffed Eggplants! Papoutsakia means “little shoes” in Greeks and these little shoes are filled with lots of deliciousness before being sprinkled with feta and baked.
Victoria is Melbourne born, with Greek heritage, and currently living on the island of San Pietro, off the coast of Sardegna, Italy, with her husband, whose paternal heritage is Italian. Victoria draws on her Greek culinary heritage and her Italian location to create beautiful Mediterranean fare – so please follow her.
Photos and recipe by Victoria Sifredi
Victoria’s Papoutsakia - Greek Stuffed Eggplant with Feta Recipe
Ingredients
- Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- 4 eggplants cut in half, scored and salted
- 1-2 sprigs rosemary (stalk removed), 1⁄2 added to pan with eggplants when bakinginitially, 1⁄2 chopped and added to filling
- 2 medium white onions, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 450 g mince of your choice
- Salt, pepper, freshly ground nutmeg to taste
- 3 carrots, coarsely grated
- ¼ cup white wine
- 7 cherry tomatoes, diced
- 250 g canned peeled tomatoes
- 6-8 Mint leaves
- 200 g feta cheese
Instructions
Preparing the Papoutsakia
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Cut eggplants in half, then score and salt them – leave them to rest for 30 minutes, before squeezing out the bitter juices
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Heat frypan on medium and add EVOO and fresh rosemary sprigs
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Add the eggplants and cook them on each side for about 7 minutes, until almost cooked through
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Transfer eggplants to a baking tray and leave them to rest
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Add onions, garlic and more rosemary to the frypan
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Sauté for about 4 minutes on medium/medium-high heat.
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Add the mince, salt, pepper and nutmeg and cook the mince through
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Add the carrots, white wine, cherry tomatoes, canned tomatoes, more seasoning if required and cook for about 10 minutes
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Lightly press down the eggplant centres and spoon the filling in
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Crumble feta over the filled eggplants and drizzle with EVOO
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Bake in a preheated oven at180°C for 40 minutes
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Serving the papoutsakia
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Serve the papoutsakia with freshly sprinkled parsley.
Kali Orexi!