I though of adding squash and bell pepper to the eggpants as I had no leeks to sweeten and add color to the stuffing. This semi-open colorful pie/tart is the perfect main course for a vegetarian Thanksgiving or for any festive fall and winter meal.   

In the original pie of Drama sauteed leeks and eggplants are flavored with plenty of agad graviera cheese, and scented with cumin. Walnuts add a meaty taste to this delicious pie that I have baked on many occasions, both at home and also at various meals I have cooked over the years in the US. I often bake a rolled eggplant pie, as it is easier to cut and serve, especially if one uses commercial frozen phyllo, and not the wonderful home-rolled. 

Serves 10-12

About 2/3 cup Olive oil as needed

1 round eggplants, cut into slices

1 large purple onion, thinly sliced

 Half a small squash, peeled, seeded and cut into small dice –about 4 cups

1 red pepper seeded and cut into strips   

 2 cups aged graviera, pecorino or cheddar, grated

1 ½ cup smoked cheddar, grated

1 1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Aleppo pepper or freshly ground black pepper

About ½ -1 teaspoon salt, as the cheeses are quite salty

½  packet thick frozen commercial phyllo, or homemade phyllo pastry

Preheat the oven to 375 F (200 C) and brush generously the eggplant slices with olive oil, place them on a parchment-paper-lined baking dish and bake until golden and tender, about 20 minutes. Let cool and then chop them into about half-inch pieces.

In the meantime, in a large skillet sauté the onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, until soft. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. To the skillet add the pepper and sauté the pepper, remove when done, then add the squash and a little more olive oil and sauté on high heat, tossing often for 2-3 minutes, then reduce the heat, cover and continue cooking until soft, about 15-20 minutes. Cool in a colander to collect any excess oil.

In a large bowl mix the onions, eggplant, peppers, squash with the grated cheeses, the cumin and the walnuts. Add very little salt and plenty of pepper and toss well to mix.

Oil a pan or a cast iron skillet and lay 2 sheets of phyllo, brushing generously with olive oil and leaving the sheets hanging out of the pan. Add two more sheets of phyllo brushing with oil and then add the filling, spreading all over the pan and pressing to even it.

Fold the hanging phyllo, brushing with olive oil, to make a crown around the pan partly covering the filling.    

Bake in the middle of the oven, reducing the temperature to 350F (180 C) for about 40 minutes or more, until the phyllo turns golden brown and the filling sizzles.

Let cool a little before cutting to serve. The pie can be eaten warm or at room temperature. It can also be frozen and reheated.

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The story goes that some women secretly fed their sons or husbands who were guerrillas in the mountains, during the war of independence from the Ottomans in the 19^th cen. by leaving water jars filled with food near the fountain. In the night, the men came secretly and collected it.

Since the water jar has a small opening, small pieces of meat and vegetables were inserted in the jar, which was then sealed with dough and slow-roasted in the wood-fired oven.

On the other hand, ‘Arni Kleftiko’ (Guerillas’ Lamb) is a variation of the previous recipe. It was a simpler dish the guerillas prepared and baked in holes in the ground, where just a few charcoals warmed the stones keeping a slow, smokeless fire that didn’t betray their position, as they roasted pieces of lamb or goat wrapped in leaves and goat or lamb skin. ‘Kleftiko’ included small pieces of aged, spicy cheese, and is flavored with lemon and herbs. Unfortunately the Kleftiko most taverns make today, has lots of mostly melted cheese and it is far from the original recipe, I feel. 

The version of ‘Arni Stamnas’ I puiblished in my first book was given to me by Electra Kalamboka from Kavalla in northern Greece, and it is obviously a more contemporary recipe with tomatoes, which came to be a common ingredient in Greek cooking around the end of the 19^th cen. after Greece became an independent country.  

Somehow merging the two previous recipes, to cook chicken wrapped in parchment paper. Placing the wrapped food in a clay pot enhances the flavors, as it slows the roasting even further.

Get the Recipe for Slow-roasted Chicken Kleftiko with Vegetables Wrapped in Parchment Paper 

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Since the water jar has a small opening, small pieces of meat and vegetables were inserted in the jar, which was then sealed with dough and slow-roasted in the wood-fired oven.

On the other hand, ‘Arni Kleftiko’ (Guerillas’ Lamb) is a variation of the previous recipe. It was a simpler dish the guerillas prepared and baked in holes in the ground, where just a few charcoals warmed the stones keeping a slow, smokeless fire that didn’t betray their position, as they roasted pieces of lamb or goat wrapped in leaves and goat or lamb skin. ‘Kleftiko’ included small pieces of aged, spicy cheese, and is flavored with lemon and herbs. Unfortunately the Kleftiko most taverns make today, has lots of mostly melted cheese and it is far from the original recipe, I feel. 

The version of ‘Arni Stamnas’ I puiblished in my first book was given to me by Electra Kalamboka from Kavalla in northern Greece, and it is obviously a more contemporary recipe with tomatoes, which came to be a common ingredient in Greek cooking around the end of the 19^th cen. after Greece became an independent country.  

Somehow merging the two previous recipes, to cook chicken wrapped in parchment paper. Placing the wrapped food in a clay pot enhances the flavors, as it slows the roasting even further.

Serve with bulgur pilaf, or with plain olive-oil-and- pepper spaghetti or orzo, dousing the pasta with the delicious Kleftiko juices.

Serves 4-5

About 650 grams boned and skinned Chicken Thighs

3 medium carrots, sliced lengthwise and cut into 3-4 inch pieces

1 medium purple onion, halved and sliced

3 small eggplants –about 800 grams

5 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced

1 lemon, halved to remove the pips then thinly sliced, PLUS more lemon juice as needed

3 bell peppers (red, green and yellow) seeded and cut into strips

150 grams hard, aged goat’s or sheep’s milk cheese cut  into small pieces (I used some leftover  Manoura of Sifnos (the cheese that ages in wine dregs) BUT any hard, spicy & salty goat’s or sheep’s milk cheese is fine –try the very hard aged mizithra, or aged, hard Pecorino. 

About 1/3 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, preferably the one with the seeds

Ground coriander seeds, cumin, salt and lots of Aleppo pepper)

A few branches of thyme and/or oregano, and dried Greek oregano to sprinkle at the end

Preheat the oven to 175 C (350 F).

Place all ingredients in a large bowl and toss well, then cut two large pieces of parchment paper placing them one on top of the other in the pan –clay or Dutch oven that you plan to roast the food in.

Close the paper to cover the food and place the cover on top of the pan.

Bake for about 3 hours, opening after 2 hours to check and maybe taste the juices, correcting the seasoning with more salt, pepper, or olive oil.

When everything is almost fully cooked, open the parchment paper and continue roasting to get some color and caramelize the top of the vegetables.

Sprinkle with oregano and serve.

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Cut into chunks a couple of small, longish, tender eggplants, some peeled butternut squash, one or two bell peppers, add a sliced onion and a couple of garlic cloves and douse them all with olive oil; sprinkle with some cumin, ground coriander seeds, oregano or thyme, plenty of Aleppo (or Maras) pepper flakes and of course salt, and bake in the center of the oven for about 45 minutes, tossing once after 30 minutes or so.  

For my 15×12 inch (37×32 cm) deep pan I used about 1 1/2 pounds squash and more or less the same weight of tender (no seeds) eggplants.

I find that squash and eggplant complement beautifully each other! But by all means, if you want to use any other seasonal vegetables, the same formula more or less works for zucchini, or with sliced fennel bulb instead of the squash etc. 

A medium onion, thickly sliced, and a couple of coarsely chopped garlic cloves are essential. Add 2 or 3 bell peppers, any color you like, and drizzle with plenty of olive oil –I would say that I used about 1/2 cup. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon cumin, plus about 2 tablespoons ground coriander seeds, and 2 teaspoons oregano or thyme. Add salt and pepper of course and toss very well –your hands or 2 large spatulas are needed here. 

Bake in a medium-high oven (about 400F, 200 C) for about 45 minutes.

Just before serving, sprinkle with plenty of fresh or dried thyme or oregano. Adding it at the end enhances the aromas and flavors tremendously. 

Don’t forget to line your pan with parchment paper so that cleaning it afterwards is dead easy!

These roasted vegetables are great hot, warm or room temperature. If you refrigerate the leftovers, heat in a low oven or in the microwave. 

You can also use them as the base to make an omelette, especially my favorite Frittata-stratta. 

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We were very grateful not only for the much-needed water, but for the comforting, cool  temperatures after a very hot summer.  We still have some vegetables, and hope for a few nice oranges, soon.

We started to get ripe, yet small fruit from the arbutus bush, and soon we will be harvesting the first oranges. 

The few, aromatic quinces we got are ripening in a basket, and are soon going to be used in meat and vegetarian dishes, also, of course in our cakes as well as in jams, and spoon sweets (fruit preserves).  

A low layer of green grass now covers the property, and our rose bushes are filled with tiny oblong red berries, and the big carob tree is filled with foul-smelling flowers buzzing with bees –an unexpected end-of-season treat for them. In Crete, where carob trees are ubiquitous in the rocky mountains, I heard that the densely-flavored carob honey is considered the best for melomakarona, the Christmas cookies.    

The disappointment and frustration with our pomegranate trees continues for one more year. The fruit rot and fall before they even ripen properly. Fortunately our two, potted dwarf, ornamental pomegranates are thriving!

Costas will prune the mulberry tree that provided its deep shade on our summer veranda, where we cook with our guests. He will then start pruning the olive trees, a major project we have to repeat every two years –not a single olive this fall..  

We planted a few micro greens in large shallow pots, and soon, we will probably harvest the very last eggplants, along with the a couple of tiny tomatoes we left on the plant just in case they ripen.

But we will still have plenty of peppers, both green and red, to make grill for meze and fry to make spreads. They often keep growing all through December…

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To imitate the xynohondros flavor I suggest you serve the pilaf with dollops of yogurt and/or crumbled feta.

I developed this recipe for EATING WELL magazine; 

part of a piece about the healthy Cooking of Crete (March 2020).

Makes 4 servings  

1/2      cup olive oil, plus more for the eggplant

1 1/2 cups chopped onions

1 green bell pepper seeded, quartered and cut in ¼ inch strips

1 1/2 cups coarse bulgur (see NOTE 1)

½ cup white wine

3          cups chopped ripe tomatoes, or best quality canned plum tomatoes with their juice (see NOTE 2)

Salt to taste

2          teaspoons Aleppo pepper or a good pinch red pepper flakes         

About 1 1/2 cups water or Vegetable Stock, as needed

1           medium round eggplant (2/3 – 1 pound) cut into 1-inch cubes

1            teaspoon salt          

1             cup crumbled feta cheese, or thick yogurt for serving

In a large saucepan, heat the oil and sauté the onions over medium-high heat for 2 minutes; toss, then reduce the heat to very low, cover the pan and cook for another 6-8 minutes, or until very soft. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the bulgur and the pepper and sauté, stirring for 3 minutes, until well coated with oil. Add the wine, toss and pour the tomatoes into the pan. Cook for 3 minutes on high heat, add 2 cups of water or stock and 1 teaspoon salt, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 6 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the eggplant: Preheat the oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the diced eggplant in a bowl and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt, then drizzle with 3 tablespoons olive oil.

Spread on the baking sheet and bake in the middle of the oven for about 15 minutes, or until golden, and somewhat shrunk.

Taste the bulgur and add a little more water or stock if needed, cook for another 5 to 8 minutes, or until tender. Remove from the heat, stir in the eggplants, and half the mint, taste, and adjust the seasonings. Let stand, covered for 3 minutes.

Serve sprinkling with the rest of the mint, and drizzling with olive oil, and dollops of yogurt and/or feta on the side, if you like.

Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

NOTE 1: I often like to toast bulgur in a dry pan for a few minutes, until fragrant and starting to color, before making my bulgur pilafs. Transfer toasted bulgur to a bowl and et the pan cool somewhat before you sauté the onions.

NOTE 2: Tomatoes in this dish are not just a broth or sauce, but one of the vegetables that give it texture as well as flavor. We dice the ripe tomatoes without seeding or peeling them. If you use canned tomatoes choose THE best, and consider adding just 2 ½ cups, boosting the flavor with 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes, which are usually good all year-round.  

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Only once we managed to harvest from our garden a few tiny white eggplants, full of seeds…

As wrote six years ago “…we tried to grow white eggplants, an old traditional Santorini variety, from heirloom seeds I purchased from a British nursery. At the beginning the plants seemed to thrive and filled with purple blossoms; the flowers soon turned into fruit that hanged from the sprigs of our three plants: tiny white eggplants, which we expected to grow to a reasonable size; but in vain… “

No recipe needed.

These white eggplants Hara gave me are sweet, with dense flesh and have no need to be salted before cooking. They are utterly delicious, and I intend to try them in different dishes. For the time being I simply roasted the white eggplant slices which can also be broiled in the oven, or roasted either over charcoal, or on the griddle.

I have added some peppers from our garden –peppers we have quite a few—as well as some sliced sweet onions I got from Maria’s Garden, down the road.

I simply dressed the eggplants and other vegetables with plenty of olive oil, sprinkled with coarsely ground coriander, salt, and Aleppo pepper.

I roasted for about 40 minutes in the middle of the oven, at 375 F (200 C), then drizzled the caramelized vegetables with fresh olive oil, sprinkled with our very aromatic dried local oregano, and I served them on toasted bread with slices of feta, or on a bed of my delicious green Tyrokafteri and some parsley sprigs.

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We have never been successful growing eggplants in our garden, but five years ago we managed to harvest a few small white ones (read more about our Eggplant Paradox). But there are other, more amusing eggplant paradoxes; some years ago I came across this confusion between the word ‘aubergine’ (the British term for eggplant) and Aborigin (!) If the words interest you, you will love it.

If you would like to know more about this wonderful vegetable read the ‘eggplant’ Wikipedia entry which is particularly rich and interesting. There I read that the Italian word for eggplant ‘melanzana’  through folk-etymology was adapted to mela insana (mad apple); already by the thirteenth century this name had given rise to the notion that eggplants could cause insanity. Also in 19th-century Egypt, insanity was said to be “more common and more violent” when the eggplant is in season in the summer, wrote William Lane, a 19^th c. orientalist.

“There are so many eggplants in the world that it’s impossible to keep up with them. In fact, scientists aren’t even sure of the exact number. From its ancestral home in Burma (Myanmar today), it migrated to become a staple in India, China, Southeast Asia, much of Africa and the Mediterranean. And as is so often the case after centuries of small-scale subsistence cultivation, there is a rainbow of poorly defined varieties, one shading into the other,” wrote Russ Parsons in LA Times in September 17, 2003. There is even tsakoniki, a beautiful Greek varietal and you can buy seeds and plant it; hopefully you are better at it than we are.

Any kind of eggplant is fine for most of the dishes I propose, and I strongly suggest you get the freshest you find in your farmer’s market. If in doubt, Molly Stevens explains beautifully their flavor variations.

Since we hardly manage to cultivate our own, I buy my eggplants from our neighbor, Maria Marouli whenever I need to make an eggplant dish, or when her display tempts me. Maria displays all kinds of delicious summer vegetables every morning and cars stop on their way to the beach.

“In an ideal world, you’d buy only enough eggplant to use that day, and you’d store it in a cool spot on the counter (eggplants hate to get colder than 45 degrees and most home refrigerators are 35 to 40 degrees),” continued Russ Parsons. His advice is “to store eggplants in the refrigerator crisper drawer in a plastic bag with a crumpled-up sheet of paper towel to absorb excess moisture. Kept this way, they’ll be of acceptable quality for as long as a week.”

Most people choose the largest eggplants they find, and when I stop by Maria’s stand in the afternoon, after most of her customers have taken their pick, only the smaller, dense ones remain; but those are exactly the eggplants I would have chosen, anyway. They have sweet white flesh and very few seeds. Of course, they may need a bit more time to cut and prepare…

RECIPES

Smoky Eggplant and pepper Spread

Aglaia’s Moussaka (with a new Vegetarian version). See the VIDEO

from Joanne Weir’s Plates and Places.

Sweet and Sour Eggplants with Raisins, Nuts, Basil, and Mint

Oven-cooked Eggplants and Peppers in Tomato Sauce

Creamy Eggplant Puree (Hünkar Beğendi)

Eggplants Stuffed with Onions, Cheese and Nuts

Roasted Summer Vegetables with Garlic and Herbs

See also some eggplant recipes that I find interesting: Jose Andres’ Escalivada, NYT Julia Moskin’s Spiced Seared Eggplant with Pearl Couscous, as well as my friend Semsa Denizsel’s  Eggplant Patties with Chicken  (in Turkish unfortunately, but you can get an idea using google-translate)

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I love melanzane alle noci e mandorle, the sweet and sour Calabrian eggplants that are crunchy with nuts and fragrant with basil and mint. They are great as a side dish with any cold meat, with grilled lamb chops or chicken legs. Traditionally, though, they are an antipasto (appetizer) served on the sideboard.

They also make a wonderful bruschetta if spread on toasted bread with shavings of parmesan, thin slices of mozzarella, manouri or sprinkled with crumbled feta. I often add grilled peppers –either home made, or store-bought– with the eggplants, and in the winter diced roasted squash is another interesting companion. Adjust the spicing of the  sauce accordingly.

Adapted from my Mediterranean Hot and Spicy.

Makes 6-8 appetizer servings

2-3 eggplants (about 2 pounds total), cut into 1-inch cubes

Salt

3-4  tablespoons olive oil

The Sauce

4 cloves garlic or more to taste, minced

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped almonds

1/2  cup coarsely chopped walnuts

8-10 basil leaves

5-6 mint leaves

1/2  cup good quality red wine vinegar

2  teaspoons honey or to taste

1-3 good pinches chopped dried peperoncini, or either Aleppo or Maras pepper or Red Pepper Flakes to taste

3 tablespoons sultanas

Generously salt the eggplants, toss and let drain in a colander for 1 hour, tossing once. Rinse under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Preheat the broiler. Layer a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the eggplant cubes on it  in a single layer. Drizzle with oil, toss and set the baking sheet about 5 inches from the heat source. Broil, tossing once, until golden, about 10-15 minutes. (You may need to do this in batches).

Alternatively you can stir-fry the eggplant cubes in olive oil, then drain on paper towels.

Transfer the eggplants to a large bowl and add the garlic, salt, almonds and walnuts. Tear with your fingers the basil and mint leaves to pieces, or cut with scissors and add to the eggplants, tossing briefly.

In a saucepan warm the vinegar with the honey, stirring just to mix. Remove from the heat, add the sultanas and peperoncini. Pour over the eggplants while still hot, toss and taste to adjust the seasoning with more salt or pepper. Let cool, cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours or overnight, and preferably for 1 day.

Let come to room temperature before serving.

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Serves 4-8

4 eggplants  (about 1 1/2 – 2 pounds)

Salt

Olive oil

3 medium onions (about 2/3 pounds), halved and thinly sliced

3 bell peppers (green or red), halved, seeded and cut into 1/4 inch strips

1 tablespoon coarsely chopped garlic

1-3 teaspoons Aleppo or Maras pepper, or pepper flakes, to taste

1 teaspoon cumin

1 cup walnuts, coarsely ground

About 1 1/2 cups coarsely grated graviera cheese, good quality peccorino, or aged or smoked cheddar (you can use a combination of cheeses, as I often do)

1 large beefsteak tomato, cut into 8 slices

1 1/2 cups Basic Tomato Sauce

About 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts

2-3 parsley sprigs (optional)

Slice the eggplants in half lengthwise keeping part of the stem. Score the flesh with a knife, salt generously, and let drain in a colander for 1 hour. Rinse under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels.

Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the eggplant cut-side up. Brush liberally with olive oil on both sides. Set the baking sheet in the middle of the oven and bake until the eggplants are golden, about 20 minutes.

(You can bake the eggplants 2-3 days in advance and refrigerate, or you can freeze them for up to 6 months. Bring to room temperature before stuffing.)

Warm 1/4 cup olive oil in a deep skillet, add the onions and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. Sauté, stirring often, for 8-10 minutes or until soft. Add the peppers and sauté stirring every now and then for another 8 minutes, or until soft. Add the garlic, sauté for 1 minute stirring, then remove from the heat. Add pepper, the cumin, the walnuts and most of the cheese –reserve some cheese to top the eggplants– toss to mix the stuffing and taste to adjust the seasoning.

Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C).

Chose a baking dish that holds the eggplants snugly. If you like, line with parchment paper. Brush the pan (or paper) with olive oil and line with the tomato slices. Place the eggplants on the tomatoes and with a spoon push the softened flesh to create room for the stuffing. Fill each eggplant half with the onion-pepper mixture, and top with 2-3 tablespoons of the tomato sauce. Pour any remaining sauce between the eggplants.

Drizzle the stuffed eggplants with 2-3 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with some cheese, then bake for 40 minutes, or until bubbling and somewhat charred on top. Let cool for at least 20 minutes. Transfer the eggplants to a serving dish and, of you like, top each one with half a tomato slice from the pan, sprinkle with pine nuts and decorate with parsley, if you like.

Serve warm, or at room temperature.

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