Traditional Moussaka

10-12 portions

Experience

Made it once (10/2022) after a holiday in Crete with Pau and Sabine. It’s amazing, although it’s a bit of work to put together, I would do it over two nights, one night to prep everything, one night to assemble and cook. It’s so tasty.

Ingredients

Base ingredients

• 6 eggplants
• 5 potatoes
• vegetable oil (for frying)

Meat sauce

• 750g beef or lamb mince
• 2 red onions
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes (400g)
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 glass of red wine
• salt + pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• pinch of cinnamon / cinnamon stick
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Béchamel sauce

• 900ml milk
• 120g butter
• 120g flour
• pinch of nutmeg
• 2 egg yolks
• 100g parmesan
• salt

Recipe

Base ingredients

1. Remove stalks from eggplants and cut them into slices, 1 cm thick. Season with salt, in colander for 30 min.
2. Rinse eggplants with plenty of water and squeeze with hands to get rid of excess water. Pat dry.
3. If using potatoes, slice them in 0.5cm thick slices.
4. Fry eggplants and potatoes in plenty of oil, until nicely colored. Place on paper to absorb oil. (or drizzle with olive oil and bake 20 min).

Meat sauce

1. Chop onions, chop garlic.
2. Heat large pan to medium-high heat, add olive oil. Sauté chopped onions until softened.Add meat, break up with wooden spoon. When brown, add garlic and tomato paste.
3. Once garlic is soft, pour in red wine, wait to evaporate.
4. Add tinned tomatoes, sugar, cinnamon, bay leaf, salt and pepper.
5. Boil then simmer with lid on for 30 min (most juices evaporated).

Béchamel sauce

1. Warm up milk.
2. In a pot, low-medium heat, melt butter. Add flour and whisk to make a paste. Add warmed milk slowly while whisking. Whisk and cook and thick.
3. Remove from heat, stir in egg yolks, salt, pepper, pinch of nutmeg and most of the cheese. Whisk quickly to. Salt to taste. Stir a spoon full of bechamel in the meat sauce.

Assembly

1. Oven: 180C.
2. Take one or two large baking dish.
3. Butter bottom and sides of the dish. Layer potatoes first, then half the eggplants.
4. Pour all the meat sauce, spread evenly.
5. Add second half of eggplants.
6. Top with béchamel sauce, spread evenly.
7. Sprinkle with grated cheese.
8. Bake 60 minutes. Cool down before cutting.

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adapted from mygreekdish