Eggplant and Lamb Bake a la Greece

Red wine added to ground lamb browned with onion, garlic, and celery. 

Eggplant slices cooked on the griddle

Meat mixture poured over grilled eggplant

Finished product. It was wonderful

My husband and I went to Greece this summer. It was a magical trip and we pretty much ate at every hole in the way taverna we could find. If they didn't speak English, that was fine by us. Pointing and smiling goes a long way. One day, after walking in the scorching heat for way too long, we happened upon this taverna is the Psiri. Only Greek people were eating there and that is always a good sign. We went and pointed at our food, which was behind glass in a buffet of sorts. The chef was behind the glass. I was skeptical of this approach, but my adventurous hubs said that we would stay. We pointed to a lamb shank with oregano sauce (served everywhere we went) and a meat stuffed eggplant. Wow, were they both good! We ate every last stinkin bite of that food and washed it down with a carafe of red wine and a cold Mythos beer. Here is my take on this dish.

Eggplant and Lamb Bake (serves 2 healthy eaters plus one healthy leftover portion)

Ingredients:

1/2 pound good quality ground lamb
1/2 onion
2 stalks celery
2 cloves garlic
2 TBLS of tomato paste
Wine for deglazing (stock would be okay)
1-2 large and firm eggplants (depending on if you want two layers of eggplant or one)
1/2 Fresh tomato
1/2 to 1 cup Raw Milk Fresh Ricotta
Fresh Parsley for garnish
EVOO/butter

Steps:

1) Sautee chopped onion and celery (season as you go) in a mixture of olive oil and butter
2) When onions/celery are soft, add ground lamb-brown
3) Add tomato paste-stir
4) Deglaze with red wine (whatever you have open)-maybe around a 1/2 cup
5) Cover and let cook for 1-2 hours (stirring occasionally). The longer it cooks, the richer it tastes
6) 45 minutes before ready to eat, slice eggplant into 1/2 inch slices
7) Either grill them inside or put them in the oven at 400
8) When soft, remove them and layer them in a greased pan. Overlap the eggplant so that they all fit
9) Dollop meat sauce onto eggplant
10) Dollop ricotta onto each slice
11) Place a small piece of fresh tomato onto each slice
12) Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with parsley and parm (optional)
13) Put in 400 degree oven and cook for 25-30 minutes until bubbly
14) Serve with green salad and a glass of red wine

Now eating in my backyard is nothing like eating at an Athens taverna, but it was pretty darn nice.