Papoutsakia
The French call them “aubergine” which comes from Arabic, the Americans call them “egg-plant” because the small white ones resemble eggs and the Greeks call them melitzana (μελιτζάνα) pronounced “meh-lee-tzah-nah”, which apparently comes from the Latin “mala-insane” meaning “apple of madness”. Why such a peculiar name ? Because we’re mad for them. No, because they are part of the nightshade family and were once thought to be very dangerous and yes, we’re mad for them.
There are so many recipes that include this wonderfull vegetable, which is actually classed as a berry becasue of the seeds inside, but here’s my favourite.
Please remember these are my adapted versions of traditional recipes made to suit my own taste and garden or cupboard content.
Papoutsakia simply means little shoes, because they look like little shoes, no analysis required there.
Ingredients.
2 melitzanes, cut lengthwise and the pulp removed and chopped for adding to the sauce.
2 onions, chopped finely.
2 garlic cloves, chopped.
2 large ripe tomatoes, chopped, or if you don’t have fresh toms then use tinned, my rule of measure is 1 large tomato for each melitzana, so that would equate to 1 tin for 2 melitzanes, or thereabouts!
a bunch of fresh parsley, chopped.
salt and pepper to taste.
oliveoil, as much or as little as you like.
and finally the cheese, I use whatever I have in the fridge in the following ways:
you can use either Feta crumbled on top or big chunks of it placed into the shoe before you put the sauce on top
or
any hard cheese grated on top or again a big chunk in the middle….. whatever you want.
Heat the oliveoil in a pan and add the onions and garlic, plus the chopped pulp from the aubergine and saute for 5 minutes……..
Add the tomatoes, herbs and seasoning and gently cook for a further 5 minutes…..
Pre-heat your oven to 180c…….
Place your shoes into a tin, dish or whatever ovenwear you want to use, skin side down.
Now depending on the cheese option you took either place your chunk of cheese into the shoes and then fill them with the tomatoe sauce, cook for 20 minutes
or
If you’ve gone for the cheese on top option, just put the tomatoe sauce straight into the empty shoes, cook for 15 minutes and add your cheese on top for the last 5 minutes.
Alternatives.
You can add minced beef or lamb to your sauce, just pop it into the pan and fry with the onions and garlic, or you can make a bechemel sauce to put on top with a sprinkle of grated cheese or crumbled Feta. Just remember to give the shoes an extra 10 minutes overall cooking time to allow for the extra ingredients.
