Ingredient
18 Greek Recipes with Eggplant (Aubergine)
Melitzana. Fried, baked, smoked, stuffed and puree'd, the aubergine does more work in Greek cooking than almost any other vegetable.
Melitzana. Fried, baked, smoked, stuffed and pureed, the aubergine does more work in Greek cooking than almost any other vegetable. Americans know it as eggplant. It is the same thing.
Moussaka is the famous use. Little shoes are halved aubergines filled with spiced meat sauce and topped with bechamel. Fried slices are served with tzatziki. The smoky dip depends on charring the aubergine over a real flame and draining it well.
Then the ones people do not expect: pickled, candied whole as a spoon sweet, pureed under braised lamb, made into soup.
Every recipe on Kalliopi's Kitchen carries the dish's Greek name and a pronunciation, its region where that is meaningful, ingredient quantities in both metric and imperial, and an honest note on what commonly goes wrong. Nutrition figures are calculated estimates and are labelled as such.
1. Moussaka
Mousakas · Μουσακάς · moo-sah-KAHS
When people say Greek food, this is usually what they mean, and it is also the dish that gets ruined most. Water does it, not bad ingredients. Cook the meat sauce drier than looks right and keep the bechamel thick. It is no weeknight dinner, but nearly all of it can be made ahead.
Yiayia’s tip: Salt the aubergines even if the packet says you do not need to. Modern aubergines are far less bitter than they used to be, so salting is often called unnecessary. That misses the point. Salting collapses the cell structure and drives out water, which means the slices absorb less oil and hold their shape in the bake.
Make Moussaka2. Smoky Aubergine Dip
Melitzanosalata · Μελιτζανοσαλάτα · meh-lee-tzah-no-sah-LAH-tah
The first ten minutes decide it. The aubergines are charred whole on a bare flame until the skin blackens and the flesh goes slack, and that smoke is the dish. An oven gives a beige puree that tastes of very little. Greeks still argue about vinegar or lemon, and whether walnuts belong in it.
Yiayia’s tip: Do not rinse the flesh. It is tempting when flecks of black skin get mixed in, but rinsing removes the smoke you spent twenty minutes creating. A few black flecks are a sign you did it right.
Make Smoky Aubergine Dip3. Briam
Μπριάμ · bree-AHM
It looks like ratatouille and works the opposite way. Ratatouille keeps each vegetable separate. Here courgette, aubergine, pepper, potato and tomato all go in one tray and cook until they stop being separate things, their water and the olive oil turning to sauce. Forty minutes gives roasted vegetables. Ninety gives briam.
Yiayia’s tip: Use a big tray. A deep pile takes far longer and steams rather than browning. A large shallow layer is what you want, even if it means using two tins.
Make Briam4. Stuffed Aubergine "Little Shoes"
Papoutsakia · Παπουτσάκια · pah-poo-TSAH-kyah
The name means little shoes, after the shape of each filled aubergine half. Much of what goes into moussaka goes in here too, the cinnamon-warmed meat sauce and the bechamel on top, but it is built in individual halves instead of sliced layers. That makes it the simpler and faster of the two.
Yiayia’s tip: Roast the aubergine properly soft. Underdone aubergine is too firm to hollow cleanly and stays tough once baked again.
Make Stuffed Aubergine "Little Shoes"5. Fried Aubergine Slices
Melitzanes tiganites · Μελιτζάνες τηγανητές · meh-leed-ZAH-nes tee-gah-nee-TES
One of the two simplest things on a Greek meze table, the other being fried courgette. Aubergine is the richer of the pair, with a slightly smoky depth once fried. The slices are thin, lightly floured and served with tzatziki and lemon. They soften within minutes, so they go straight to the table.
Yiayia’s tip: Salt properly and for long enough. This draws out the bitter liquid aubergine holds and is what lets the slices crisp rather than absorb oil and turn soggy.
Make Fried Aubergine Slices6. Aubergine Baked with Onion and Tomato
Melitzanes imam · Μελιτζάνες ιμάμ · meh-leed-ZAH-nes ee-MAHM
Across the former Ottoman world there is a dish called imam bayildi, and this is the Greek one. Whole aubergines are split, filled with onion, garlic and tomato, and baked long in a great deal of olive oil. The oil ends up as the sauce, and bread is there to mop it.
Yiayia’s tip: Choose smaller aubergines if possible. They cook through more evenly than very large ones and are easier to fill neatly.
Make Aubergine Baked with Onion and Tomato7. Baked Aubergine with Feta and Tomato
Melitzanes me feta · Μελιτζάνες με φέτα · meh-leed-ZAH-nes meh FEH-tah
Less than a moussaka, more than a tray of roasted vegetables, and nowhere near the work of the first. Aubergine slices are layered with a quick tomato sauce and baked under feta until it softens and colours. The feta has to be thick, or the dish is plain. Eat it hot, with bread.
Yiayia’s tip: Roast the aubergine properly first. This concentrates its flavour and removes the raw bitterness that skipping this step would leave in the finished dish.
Make Baked Aubergine with Feta and Tomato8. Aubergine in Yogurt Sauce
Melitzanes se saltsa giaourtiou · Μελιτζάνες σε σάλτσα γιαουρτιού · meh-leed-ZAH-nes seh SAHL-tsah yah-oor-TYOO
Aubergine and yogurt on one plate, a crossover between Greek cooking and the wider eastern Mediterranean, as manti and imam bayildi are. Fried slices, crisp at the edge and soft inside, go under thick garlic yogurt, and paprika butter is poured over last. Serve with bread, or as part of a meze.
Yiayia’s tip: Keep the yogurt properly cold. The contrast between cold sauce and hot aubergine and butter is exactly what this dish is built around.
Make Aubergine in Yogurt Sauce9. Vegan Stuffed Aubergine with Rice
Melitzanes gemistes · Μελιτζάνες γεμιστές · meh-leed-ZAH-nes yeh-mee-STES
Gemista usually means tomatoes and peppers stuffed with rice. Aubergine takes the same filling, rice with tomato and herbs and no meat, which makes this Lenten cooking. It is far lighter than papoutsakia, the aubergine boat with meat sauce and bechamel. Next day, at room temperature, it is as good as warm.
Yiayia’s tip: Leave a sturdy shell. Scoop the flesh out generously but not so much that the aubergine cannot hold its shape once stuffed and baked.
Make Vegan Stuffed Aubergine with Rice10. Aubergine and Feta Pie
Melitzanopita · Μελιτζανόπιτα · meh-leed-zah-NOH-pee-tah
A pie for late summer, when there is a glut of aubergines. Roasted aubergine takes the place spinach or leek usually has, bound with plenty of feta and egg. A rough mash eats better than a smooth puree. It keeps a few days in the fridge and is arguably better on the second.
Yiayia’s tip: Roast the aubergine fully. A properly long roast, until the whole aubergine has collapsed, is what develops the smoky depth this pie relies on.
Make Aubergine and Feta Pie11. Chunky Aubergine and Tomato Stew
Melitzanes yahni · Μελιτζάνες γιαχνί · meh-leed-ZAH-nes yah-NEE
The word yahni names a method, not a dish: onion and garlic softened, then tomato, simmered until thick. Greek cooks put several vegetables through it. With aubergine in chunks it is the weeknight answer to melitzanes imam, with no splitting and stuffing. It keeps a couple of days and wants bread and feta.
Yiayia’s tip: Colour the aubergine before saucing. A brief fry builds real depth of flavour before the long simmer, rather than adding raw aubergine directly to the sauce.
Make Chunky Aubergine and Tomato Stew12. Aubergine-Wrapped Rice Rolls
Dolmades me melitzana · Ντολμάδες με μελιτζάνα · dohl-MAH-thes meh meh-leed-ZAH-nah
Dolmades without the leaf. Strips of grilled aubergine wrap the rice and herbs, and the rolls bake in a light tomato sauce. A vine leaf is neutral, while aubergine is soft, smoky and has body of its own, so this is a vegan main course and not a side. Roll firmly, because the rice swells.
Yiayia’s tip: Slice the aubergine thin and even. This is what lets each strip roll around the filling without cracking or tearing.
Make Aubergine-Wrapped Rice Rolls13. Charcoal-Smoked Aubergine Dip
Melitzanosalata kapnisti · Μελιτζανοσαλάτα καπνιστή · meh-leed-zah-noh-sah-LAH-tah kahp-nee-STEE
Most melitzanosalata starts in the oven. Taverna kitchens that already have charcoal burning put the whole aubergine straight over the flame, and no oven gives that smokiness however long you wait. That is the only change. The flesh is still scooped out, drained and mixed with lemon, garlic and olive oil.
Yiayia’s tip: Turn the aubergine constantly. This is what chars it evenly all over rather than burning through in one spot while the rest stays underdone.
Make Charcoal-Smoked Aubergine Dip14. Candied Baby Aubergine Spoon Sweet
Melitzanaki glyko · Μελιτζανάκι γλυκό · meh-leed-zah-NAH-kee glee-KOH
Aubergine as a sweet surprises nearly everyone the first time. Whole baby aubergines are boiled until tender, each given one blanched almond, then candied for an hour or more in syrup scented with clove, until they are dark and glossy. The almond helps each one keep its shape. After boiling they are fragile.
Yiayia’s tip: Use only genuinely small baby aubergines. Larger ones have tougher flesh and more bitterness already developed, working against the sweetness this preserve depends on.
Make Candied Baby Aubergine Spoon Sweet15. Grilled Aubergine Skewers
Souvlaki melitzanas · Σουβλάκι μελιτζάνας · soov-LAH-kee meh-leed-ZAH-nas
Aubergine handles the skewer and the charcoal as well as meat does. The chunks sit briefly in oil, lemon and oregano, then grill until charred outside and soft and smoky within. It is vegan without being a consolation prize. Be generous with the oil, because aubergine drinks it and dries out otherwise.
Yiayia’s tip: Cut the chunks large enough. Around four centimetres holds up well on the grill without drying out before the centre softens.
Make Grilled Aubergine Skewers16. Pickled Aubergine
Melitzanes toursi · Μελιτζάνες τουρσί · meh-leed-ZAH-nes toor-SEE
Vinegar pickles, tursi, are a Greek and Middle Eastern tradition that gets less notice than spoon sweets or cured meats. Here it is aubergine in strips, jarred with garlic and chilli under a sharp brine. Anything above the brine spoils. It goes on sharpening for a couple of weeks.
Yiayia’s tip: Do not skip the blanching step. Raw aubergine's spongy texture does not take up brine evenly. A brief blanch softens it just enough to cure properly.
Make Pickled Aubergine17. Roasted Eggplant Soup
Melitzanosoupa · Μελιτζανόσουπα · meh-leed-zah-NOH-soo-pah
Greek cooks turn aubergine into dips, salads, fried sides and stuffed mains. Here it becomes a smooth, warming soup. It is roasted first, then blended with onion and a little rice, which gives body without any cream or dairy. Olive oil goes over the top at the end.
Yiayia’s tip: Char the aubergine skin properly. This is what gives the soup its real smoky depth. A lightly roasted aubergine without proper charring gives a flatter, less interesting result.
Make Roasted Eggplant Soup18. Lamb on Smoked Aubergine Puree
Hounkiar begienti · Χουνκιάρ μπεγιεντί · hoon-KYAR beh-yen-DEE
The name means, roughly, that the sultan approved. Refugees brought it to Greece in 1922, and it is the showpiece of Constantinople Greek cooking. It is two recipes on one plate: lamb or veal stewed soft with onion and tomato, over a puree of charred aubergine folded into bechamel with kefalotyri.
Yiayia’s tip: Char, do not roast. Direct flame on the skin is what produces the smoke that defines this dish. An oven gives you soft sweet aubergine and a puree that could be anything.
Make Lamb on Smoked Aubergine Puree
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