Beef and Eggplant Stew (Mosxari me Melitzanes)

Eggplants are one of the vegetables used widely in Greek cuisine.  Growing up I didn't particularly like them.  I can't remember why, and I actually don't think I ever tried them to know I didn't like them, but something about them made me not want to try.  Now that I've grown up (ha ha) I love eggplants and incorporating them into my cooking.  This is a very traditional and easy Greek meal that is hearty and filling.  The ingredients you will need are:

2 lbs beef for stew
2 eggplants
4-5 potatoes
1 onion
1 can crushed red tomatoes
1/2 cup olive oil
salt
pepper

Preheat your over to 420 degrees.  Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray so the food won't stick.  Rinse the meat and pat dry.  Cut into chunks and put into dish.  Wash and cut eggplants into chunks and add to dish.  Peel and cut potatoes into chunks and add to dish.  Chop onion and add to dish.  Add crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, and olive oil.  Stir everything together to make sure all ingredients are combined, and put in the oven.  I like to cook this in a dish that has a cover, which I use during cooking to keep some of the juices in.  I usually cook for a total of 1 hour.  I leave the stew in the oven for 20 minutes uncovered, then mix it and cover for the next 20 minutes, then stir it again and leave uncovered for the last 20 minutes.


And that's it! I told you it was easy; just throw all the ingredients into the dish and bake!  I recommend having some crusty bread on hand to eat this with; it's great for cleaning all the yummy sauce off your plate!