Greek Style Stuffed Eggplant Aubergine Food

EASY GREEK-STYLE EGGPLANT RECIPE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Place eggplant cubes in a colander over a large bowl or directly over your sink, and sprinkle with salt. Set aside for 20 minutes or so to allow eggplant to "sweat out" any bitterness. Rinse with water and pat dry.
• In a large braiser, heat 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil over medium-high until shimmering but not smoking. Add onions, peppers, and chopped carrot. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly, then add garlic, bay leaf, spices, and a dash of salt. Cook another minute, stirring until fragrant.
• Now add eggplant, chopped tomato, chickpeas, and reserved chickpea liquid. Stir to combine.
• Bring to a rolling boil for 10 minutes or so. Stir often. Remove from stove top, cover and transfer to oven.
• Cook in oven for 45 minutes until eggplant is fully cooked through to very tender. (While eggplant is braising, be sure to check once or twice to see if more liquid is needed. If so, remove from oven briefly and stir in about 1/2 cup of water at a time.)
• When eggplant is ready, remove from oven and add a generous drizzle of Private Reserve EVOO, garnish with fresh herbs (parsley or mint). Serve hot or at room temperature with a side of Greek yogurt or even Tzatziki sauce and pita bread.

EASY GREEK VEGETARIAN STUFFED AUBERGINE/EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Pierce the aubergine all over with a fork and then wrap in foil and bake in the oven at 180C/350F for 30 minutes.
• Cut in half and scoop out the cooked flesh and chop up into small pieces.
• Mix the cooked aubergine flesh with all other ingredients in a bowl (omit the coriander)
• Stuff all of this back into the aubergine shells and grill for 10 minutes at high heat.
• Serve with a wedge of lemon and scattered with fresh coriander.

IMAM BAILDI AKA STUFFED EGGPLANT (AUBERGINE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Cut ends off the eggplants/aubergines.
• Make an opening for the stuffing by using a sharp knife and slicing the eggplant from the stem end down to the other, make sure that you don't cut them all the way through.
• In a skillet, heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil over a medium heat.
• Fry the eggplant gently.
• If needed, you can add some more oil in the frying pan.
• Remove the eggplant from the skillet and place in an 8"x8" baking dish.
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Add the remainder of the olive oil to the same skillet.
• Sautee the onions and garlic in it until they are slightly golden being careful to not burn the garlic.
• You want the vegetables soft.
• Add the fresh tomatoes and half a cupful of water to the skillet.
• Add the oregano, sugar, more salt and pepper.
• Simmer covered, for 15 minutes.
• Remove stuffing from heat.
• Fill the eggplants with this stuffing.
• They will be slightly open as they don't need to be closed back over the stuffing mixture so be very generous.
• Bake for 4O minutes; basting them at least once.

STUFFED EGGPLANT (AUBERGINE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Cut eggplant in half, scoop out the pulp, leaving a 1/2 inch shell. Chop the flesh finely.
• Heat 2 tablespoons water in a skillet over medium heat. Cook chopped eggplant for about 1 minute. Stir in onion, garlic, and parsley, and cook until tender. Transfer to a large bowl, and mix in bread crumbs, chopped olives, capers, and lemon juice. Season with basil, pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Stuff into eggplant shells.
• Top stuffed eggplants with overlapping slices of tomato. Drizzle with 4 tablespoons olive oil. Place on baking sheet.
• Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

EASY GREEK STUFFED EGGPLANT (PAPOUTSAKIA OR 'LITTLE SHOES'!)

Steps:

• Pre-heat the oven to 355F/180C. Slice each eggplant in half lengthwise. On the cut side, score around the edge of each, leaving around a 1cm border. Then on the inside, score in a criss-cross pattern. Go as deep as you can without slicing through the bottom of the eggplant. This isn't as tricky as it sounds!
• Place the eggplant halves on a large baking tray lined with baking paper. Brush all over with olive oil. Turn them over so that the cut side is now down. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the flesh of the eggplant is soft.
• Meanwhile, make your meat sauce. Heat a little olive oil in a large saucepan, then cook the onion for a few minutes. Add the garlic, cinnamon & oregano and cook for a minute longer.
• Add the meat to the pan and brown while breaking up with a wooden spoon.
• Add the tomato puree, water and wine. Simmer the sauce until it has thickened (about 30 minutes).
• Stir in the parsley and salt and pepper to taste.
• To make the béchamel, melt the butter in a medium saucepan, then stir in the flour until you have a paste.
• Take off the heat, then stir in the milk little by little.
• Put the pan back on the heat and stir until the sauce has thickened and is just bubbling. Add about three quarters of the cheese and all of the nutmeg.
• Let cool for about five minutes, then whisk in the egg yolks (whole eggs are OK too).
• Arrange the baked eggplant (cut side up) in a 12 x 9 inch baking dish.
• Use a big metal spoon to squash down the eggplant inside the border you scored.
• Spoon some of the meat sauce inside each eggplant. It's OK if it's piled up a bit.
• Top each stuffed eggplant with a few spoonfuls of the cooled bechamel sauce. Sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.
• Bake for 30 minutes or until the bechamel sauce is golden and bubbling. Serve with a Greek salad, toasted bread and tzatziki (or Greek yoghurt), or just a nice fresh green salad.

MOUSSAKA-STYLE STUFFED EGGPLANT (AUBERGINE)

Steps:

• Halve the eggplants lengthwise and score the interior of each half, leaving about a third of an inch thickness on the perimeter.
• Use a paring knife and a spoon to scoop out the interior of the eggplant, leaving a 'boat.'.
• Using a fork, pierce the skin in several places, liberally salt the halves and place them upside down on paper towels to drain for about 30 minutes.
• Chop the eggplant flesh into 1/2" cubes and set aside 4 cups of the cubes (reserve any excess for another recipe).
• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Wipe the eggplant shells out with paper towels, brush the skin lightly with a little olive oil, and place them on a baking sheet.
• Bake them until they are just tender (about ten minutes) then remove from the oven and set aside in a baking dish.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
• Add the lamb and cook, breaking up the pieces, until lightly browned--about 5 minutes.
• Add the onion, garlic, 4 cups of eggplant and cook, stirring occasionally, until the eggplant is soft--about five more minutes.
• Add the tomatoes, bell pepper, cloves, cumin, cinnamon and cayenne and cook until the mixture is fairly dry.
• Remove from the heat and stir in 1/2 cup of the ricotta.
• Season to taste and spoon into the 4 eggplant halves.
• Place the remaining 1 and 1/3 cups of ricotta in a small bowl and stir in the nutmeg and enough milk until the consistency of the cheese mixture is spreadable.
• Spread it over the filled eggplant halves and sprinkle the tops with parmesan.
• Bake until the tops are very brown--25 to 35 minutes.
• Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

GREEK STUFFED EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Position rack in upper third of oven; preheat to 400 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
• Cut each eggplant in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, scoop out flesh from the halves, leaving about 1/2-inch border on the sides and bottoms. Coarsely chop the flesh and set aside.
• Drizzle the insides of the eggplant shells evenly with 1 tablespoon oil. Place the shells, cut-side up, on the prepared baking sheet and roast until tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and increase oven temperature to broil.
• While the eggplant roasts, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook, stirring often, until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Add tomato paste, cumin, and garlic; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, bell pepper and the reserved chopped eggplant; cook, stirring occasionally, until the eggplant is tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in parsley, olives and vinegar.
• Divide the filling evenly among the eggplant shells; top each with 3 tablespoons feta. Broil until the cheese is melted and golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh oregano and dill, if desired.

STUFFED AUBERGINES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6. Cut the aubergines in half, lengthways, and (leaving a border of around 5mm/¼in), cut out the flesh.
• Dice the flesh and set aside. Brush the inside of the aubergines with olive oil and season with salt. Place in a baking tin and cover with foil. Bake for 20 minutes.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a pan. Add the onion and fry gently over a medium heat for 10 minutes, or until softened.
• Increase the heat, add the garlic and aubergine flesh and stir until the aubergine has lightly browned. Add the herbs, chilli flakes, if using, and the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine, reduce the heat and cover.
• Simmer for 10 minutes, remove the lid and continue to cook until any liquid has evaporated.
• Spoon the mixture into the aubergine halves. Mix the breadcrumbs with the cheese, lemon zest and basil, and season with a little salt and pepper. Sprinkle this over the stuffed aubergines, and drizzle with more olive oil.
• Bake the aubergines, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes, or until the filling is hot and the top has lightly browned. Serve.

GREEK-STYLE STUFFED EGGPLANT (AUBERGINE)

Steps:

• Halve two of the eggplants lengthwise, score there pulp deeply with a sharp knife (careful not to pierce the skins).
• With a grapefruit knife, scoop out the pulp, reserving it, and leaving 1/2-inch thick shells.
• Sprinkle the shells with salt and pepper; invert (turn over) on paper towels to drain for 30 minutes.
• Cut the reserved pulp, and the remaining whole eggplant into 1/2-inch pieces.
• Transfer to a colander; toss with salt, and let them drain for 30 minutes.
• Pat the shells dry with paper towels, brush them with 1 Tbsp oil.
• Broil them on a rack of a broiler pan under a preheated broiler, about 4 inches from the heat for 5 minutes, or until they are tender.
• In a skillet, heat the remaining 3 Tbsp olive oil over moderately high heat until it is hot, but not smoking.
• Saute the eggplant pieces (that have been patted dry), stirring until they are golden.
• Stir in the chopped onion and the garlic; cook over medium heat until onion is softened.
• Remove the skillet from the heat; stir in the parsley, mint, tomatoes and feta cheese, adding salt and pepper to taste; stir to combine.
• Divide the filling among the shells mounding/heaping it.
• Broil the stuffed eggplants in a large flameproof baking dish for 5 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly and golden-- delicious!

GREEK SMOKED AUBERGINE DIP RECIPE (MELITZANOSALATA)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200C or 392F
• Wash the aubergine ( eggplant) under running water and dry it with a towel. Pierce the aubergine a few times with a toothpick once dry.
• Place the aubergine (eggplant) on a baking tray and roast it at 180C-200C or 356-392F for 30-40 minutes. Check at regular intervals if the aubergine is ready. Note that cooking time will depend on the size of the aubergine.
• When the aubergine is ready, remove it from the oven. Slice it along the long axis so that the flesh is visible. The flesh will be soft and juicy.
• Dice the tomato and chop the garlic finely.
• Crumble the Feta cheese and sprinkle it along with tomato, garlic and thyme on the aubergine.
• Finally drizzle with olive oil and vinegar.

GREEK-STYLE STUFFED EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Halve 2 of the eggplants lengthwise, score their pulp deeply with a sharp knife, being careful not to pierce the skins, and with a grapefruit knife scoop out the pulp, reserving it and leaving 1/2-inch-thick shells. Sprinkle the shells with salt and invert them on paper towels to drain for 30 minutes. Cut the reserved pulp and the remaining whole eggplant into 1/2-inch pieces, in a colander toss the pieces with the salt, and let them drain for 30 minutes.
• Pat the shells dry with paper towels, brush them with 1 tablespoon of the oil, and broil them on the rack of a broiler pan under a preheated broiler about 4 inches from the heat for 5 minutes, or until they are tender. In a skillet heat the remaining 3 tablespoons oil over moderately high heat until it is hot but not smoking and in it sauté the eggplant pieces, patted dry, stirring, until they are golden. Stir in the onion and the garlic and cook the mixture over moderate heat, stirring, until the onion is softened. Remove the skillet from the heat, stir in the parsley, the mint, the tomatoes, the Feta, and salt and pepper to taste, and divide the filling among the shells, mounding it. Broil the stuffed eggplants in a large flameproof baking dish for 5 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling and golden.

PAPOUTSAKIAS (STUFFED EGGPLANT (AUBERGINE))

Steps:

• Cut eggplants in half lengthwise.
• Scoop out flesh of eggplants using a large spoon, leaving 1/2 inch of thickness to the shells (four halves are to be stuffed, the third eggplant is for extra flesh).
• Smear four shells with olive oil and roast, flesh side down, on grill or in 400 degree F oven until lightly brown, about 10 minutes.
• While the shells roast, brown the meat in a LARGE skillet, about 10 minutes.
• Remove meat and set aside.
• Meanwhile, chop eggplant flesh coarsely and garlic finely.
• Add olive oil to the skillet and cook the chopped eggplant and garlic until the eggplant is well done and soft, about 30 minutes.
• Add all ingredients, except shells, to the skillet and cook until everything is nicely combined, about 10 minutes.
• Fill the shells with the mixture.
• Sprinkle with grated cheese.
• Roast until bubbly and brown, about 5 minutes.