Patlıcan Papucaki

Ingredients

• 4 small(er) eggplants, Italian eggplants are perfect for papucaki
• 2–3 green peppers or 1 bell pepper, finely chopped
• 3–4 green onions, chopped
• 2–3 tomatoes, diced or grated
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2–3 tbsp olive oil
• ~1 cup grated mozzarella or feta cheese
• 2 egg
• 4 bay leaves
• salt and pepper

Method

• Place eggplants on a baking sheet, poke holes in them and roast until they collapse and the flesh is all the way soft.
• Once they cool down, cut a rectangle piece on top as in the picture and scoop out the flesh.
• Dice the roasted eggplant flesh and mix them with lemon juice in a bowl.
• In a pan heat olive oil and add onion and peppers. Stir until soft.
• Add diced eggplant flesh and cook for 2 minutes.
• Add tomatoes, salt, black pepper, and bay leaves and cook until tomato juice cooks off.
• Beat eggs in a bowl and stir them in the tomato mix and stuff the eggplants with this. [I usually skip egg part]
• Cover the tops with grated cheese.
• Place stuffed eggplants in an oven dish and bake in a preheated oven at 400F for 15–20 minutes.
• serve immediately.