Melitzanes Filipikos – eggplant fans with feta

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 2 eggplant(s)
• 1 large beef tomato(s), alternatively 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 200 g feta cheese
• 1 onion(s)
• 2 garlic cloves
• olive oil
• Thyme
• Salt
• Cayenne pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 40 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 10 minutes

simple, delicious, vegetarian

Cut the onion into large cubes (0.5 – 0.7 cm) and fry until translucent in plenty of olive oil, not too hot. Finely dice or press the garlic and fry briefly. Cut the tomato into 1 cm cubes and add to the pan. Season the tomato with plenty of thyme, a little cayenne pepper, and a little salt. Let the sauce simmer gently. Fan the eggplant. To do this, cut into slices about 1 cm thick, but do not cut all the way through, but leave them together at the stalk. Mix the olive oil with the thyme, salt, and a little cayenne pepper, and brush the cut surfaces of the eggplant with it. Preheat the oven to 200°C (top/bottom heat). Place the eggplant in a covered baking dish so that the cuts can be opened, i.e. the individual slices vertically downwards, not horizontally. Remove the tomato sauce from the heat. Briefly stir in the diced feta (0.7 – 1 cm). You can also reserve some of the feta cheese and spread it over the eggplants before baking. Now spoon the tomato sauce and feta cheese between the eggplant slices. Bake the eggplants with the lid on for about 30 minutes at 200°C. The liquid should be boiling. The eggplant slices can be eaten on their own; alternatively, you can serve them with kritharaki (Greek pasta) or rice.