Papapoutsakia: Stuffed Eggplant with MEAT SAUCE & bechamel

Papoutsakia means little shoes in Greek, although it is sometimes translated as eggplant slippers (which in Modern Greek is pandofles). This is basically mousaka re-arranged and much easier to make because there is no need to slice, salt and roast or fry each slice of eggplant and potato–just roast the whole eggplant, cut in half, stuff with prepared meat sauce, top with bechamel and throw some potato wedges in the pan and roast!

Eggplant Papoutsakia (moussaka style stuffed roasted eggplant)

1. Roast eggplant at 400 for around 40 minutes
2. Open eggplant lengthwise, drain excess liquid and lightly salt
3. Mash the inside of eggplant and mix the meat sauce (see recipe below) with the eggplant pulp.
4. Add bechamel sauce (see recipe below) and top with Parmesan cheese.
5. Cut potatoes lengthwise into wedges and place around eggplant in roasting pan
6. Roast for 40min -1 hour at 375 until the eggplant turn golden brown on top.

Here is my master recipe for meat sauce, which combines elements of Marcella Hazan’s Bolognese and Asia Minor Greek cooking (cinnamon and nutmeg in the sauce). I cook about 10 pounds of ground beef and freeze the sauce in containers to use in mousaka, papoutsakia, pastitsio, or for pasta–for the last two, I boil with it  pureed tomato after defrosting when using it for pasta.

MEAT SAUCE
¼ cup EVGE extra virgin olive oil (I just coat bottom of the pan without measuring)
2lb. ground beef
1 large red onion finely chopped
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup milk
4 plum tomatoes grated or can of crushed tomatoes
1 stick of cinnamon 
2 bay leaves
Grinding of nutmeg 
Salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Sauté onion in olive oil and add ground beef when onion becomes translucent and golden.
2.Sauté meat until browned and add wine. When juices from the wine have boiled away (30 seconds to a minute), add milk. About 1/2 a minute later add the tomato and the rest of the ingredients.
3. Slowly simmer the meat sauce for 4-5 hours and add salt and pepper to taste.

Here is my recipe for bechamel. The secret for making it super fast is to heat the milk before adding to the butter-flour roux. I heat in the microwave on high 1 minute for each cup of milk. 
 
Bechamel sauce (for 2 eggplant–4 slippers OR x 4 for moussaka)

1 cup milk (can be infused with a bay leaf, allspice berry and pepper corns for extra flavor)
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp butter
Grinding of nutmeg
White pepper
Pinch of salt
1 egg  (for every 2 cups of milk)

1. Warm milk —heat in the microwave on high 1 minute for each cup of milk
2. Melt butter 
3. Whisk flour in melted butter
4. Add milk to foamy butter-flour mixture and whisk constantly until it thickens
5. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper
6. Leave to cool and add beaten egg  (it will thicken even more as it cools)