Growing up in the North Platte Valley of Western Nebraska I was exposed to many different ethnic groups and their foods. We had the Mexican foods, the German Foods and the Greek foods. My little hometown had the largest Greek Orthodox Church in a 200 mile radius and people came from all over the valley to the Bayard Greek Orthodox Church. There were Megas, Liakos, Karabus, Chikos, Lapesotos, Karampalas, Vassos, and Straits. The daughter of Father Karampalas was in my class and a bright and beautiful girl. Bless her heart she was a hemophiliac and is no longer with us . Every year out at one of the farmers places they would have the annual Greek Picnic and everybody was invited. It was kind of controversial with some people because they used to say “If you are tall enough to put your money on the bar you were old enough to drink at the Greek Picnic.” I know they always had some great food . My friend and classmate used to make this and I liked it so much that I got the recipe from her when we were in high school almost fifty years ago.
HARRIET’S GREEK STUFFED EGGPLANT
1 large eggplant
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 clove of fresh garlic, chopped
1 pound garlic sausage browned and finely crumbled
2 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup fine dry garlic and onion bread crumbs or crushed croutons
3 tbsp lime or lemon juice
1/2 lb cubed feta cheese
Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise and scoop out the meat leaving a 1/2″ shell. Dice the meat of the eggplant that you removed. In a large skillet heat the olive oil. Cook the onion and garlic until they are a nice golden color. Stir in the tomato and the diced eggplant. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes. Make sure it is well mixed.
Stir in the garlic sausage and season with oregano, salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture into the eggplant shell and place the two halves in a baking pan in a 350 F oven. Top each half of the eggplant with 1/2 the bread crumbs.
Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until nicely browned. Serve with Feta Cheese and sprinkle with lemon or lime juice.
This is really good and can easily be doubled or tripled for more people. Enjoy this then have a couple pieces of good baklava. There was always plenty of good food and drink at the Greek Picnics.