Baked Aubergines with Minced Meat (Papucaki)

My dad's favorite meal and a regular meal in our family. It's a Greek and Turkish dish made of aubergines filled with minced meat and covered with delicious sauce on top. Fairly easy to make and well worth the effort.


Ingredients:

• 4 big aubergines
• 400 grams (15 oz) minced meat, beef or veal)
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1/2 teacup olive oil
• 2 ripe tomatoes finely chopped
• 1/2 cup parsley finely chopped
• salt
• pepper
• frying oil
• 1 teacup grated cheese
• 2 cups milk
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons flour

Cut the aubergines in half lengthwise and remove some of the inside. Sprinkle them with salt and let them stand in water for an hour to draw the bitter juices.

Put some oil in a pan and fry the onion until brown. add the minced meat and stir for 5 minutes. add the tomatoes, the parsley and 1/2 cup of water.  Season with salt and pepper. cook over moderate heat until there is no water left. Stuff the aubergines with the mixture, about 2 tablespoons for each aubergine. Arrange them in an oiled baking pan.

To make the sauce, brown the flour slightly with the butter adding lukewarm milk slowly and stirring with a wooden spoon. Turn the heat off when the sauce thickens. Beat the egg add salt and stir it in. Pour the sauce over the aubergines and sprinkle with grated cheese. Add 1/2 cup of water in the baking pan. Bake in a moderate oven until the sauce gets golden brown.

You can serve them with some sour cream on top.