Paputsakya (shoes)

Category: Meat dishes

Kitchen: greek

Ingredients
Small eggplants	4 - 6 pcs. (about 1 kg)
Minced meat (ideally beef)	500 BC
Large onion	1 PC.
Tomato paste or sauce	2 tbsp. spoons
Dry white wine	125 ml.
Grated hard cheese (ideally Parmesan)	100 g
Garlic	1 clove
Salt	taste
Ground black pepper	taste
Bay leaf	1 PC.
Caraway	pinch
For Bechamel sauce:
Butter	60 g
Wheat flour	60 g
Milk	500 ml
Egg yolk	1 PC.
Nutmeg	pinch
Salt	taste
Ground black pepper	taste

Cooking method

1 Cut the eggplants lengthwise into two and make several cuts inside, so as not to punch the skin

Season them with salt and let sit for at least 30 minutes. Modern eggplant varieties are usually not bitter, so I skip this point in all eggplant recipes. In this case, do this step, it will facilitate your further manipulations.

3 Squeeze the eggplants with your hands and remove the inside of the flesh, leaving about 1 cm around the edges. A teaspoon to help you.
4 Cut the removed eggplant pulp into medium-sized cubes. It will be useful to us when preparing the filling.
5 Fry the eggplants lightly on both sides in a little oil. The rind should be soft and the inside should take on a light golden hue.
6 Meanwhile, we are preparing the filling. Scroll the minced meat. The source uses beef, and mine is beef with pork. It is not necessary to knead the minced meat.
7 Fry the onions in a little oil, add the minced meat and fry lightly, stirring and breaking the lumps
8 Add the cumin and eggplant pulp. Pour over with wine, add tomato sauce, salt, pepper, bay leaf, chopped garlic, stir and simmer under the lid for about 30 minutes.
9 Cooking bechamel. In a saucepan, melt the butter and slowly add the flour, stirring with a whisk until a thick mixture is obtained. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg.
10 Pour in the milk gradually and continue to heat, stirring occasionally, to form a thick, homogeneous sauce. Remove the pan from heat and add the yolk, stirring constantly.

We collect our dish. Place the fried eggplant on a baking sheet and fill with minced meat. In the source, it is proposed to spread coarsely chopped potatoes between the eggplants so that the minced meat does not spill out. I didn’t do it, I didn’t get enough sleep anyway.

12 Sprinkle the minced meat with a little grated cheese, spread the béchamel on top of the eggplant and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
13 Add some water to a baking sheet and bake in the oven at 170 degrees for about 40 minutes

The dish is designed for

8 - 12 servings

Time for preparing:

2 hours

Cooking program:

Stove, oven

Note

The dish is very tasty and is obtained even from winter cardboard eggplants. Easily warmed up in the microwave without losing its shape and taste.
Don't neglect the bechamel. Sometimes you want to do it faster and don't want to mess with it, but don't give in. The filling turns out to be quite sharp and sour and the delicate béchamel balances it well.
The source of the recipe is the book Greek Cuisine (traditional Greek dishes), brought to me by my parents from Cyprus.
Bon Appetit!