Meet the Italian Lasagna’s Greek Cousin Named Moussaka

I’ve been to the Greek islands a couple of times and this is one of my favorite dishes ever. It takes a while to prepare but it’s definitely worth it! With some Greek music playing in the background you’re going to feel like your having dinner somewhere near the Mediterranean Sea…

Base ingredients

• 6 eggplants
• vegetable oil (for frying the eggplants)

For the meat sauce

• 750g minced beef or lamb (26 ounces)
• 2 red onions (chopped)
• 2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes (400g/ 14 oz.)
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 glass of red wine
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• a pinch of cinnamon or one cinnamon stick
• 1/4 of a cup olive oil

For the béchamel sauce

• 875ml milk (3 and 1/2 cups)
• 100g butter (3.5 ounces)
• 100g flour (3.5 ounces)
• a pinch of nutmeg
• 2 egg yolks
• 100g Parmigiano-Reggiano or Kefalotyri (3.5 ounces)

Instructions:

1. Begin by preparing the eggplants. Remove the stalks from the eggplants and cut them into slices, 1 cm thick. Season with salt and place in a colander for about 30min.
2. Rinse the eggplants with plenty of water and squeeze with your hands, to get rid of the excessive water. Pat them dry and fry in plenty of oil, until nicely colored. Place them on some paper, in order to absorb the oil.
3. Prepare the meat sauce for the moussaka. Heat a large pan to medium -high heat and add the olive oil. Stir in the chopped onions and sauté, until softened and slightly colored. Stir in the garlic, tomato puree and the mince breaking it up with a wooden spoon and sauté. Pour in the red wine and wait to evaporate. Add the tomatoes, the sugar, a pinch of cinnamon, 1 bay leaf and some salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, turn the heat down and simmer with the lid on for about a half an hour, until most of the juices have evaporated.
4. Prepare the béchamel sauce. Use a large pan to melt some butter over low-medium heat. Add the flour whisking continuously to make a paste. Add warmed milk in a steady stream; keep whisking in order to prevent your sauce from getting lumpy. If the sauce still needs to thicken, boil over low heat while continuing to stir. Remove the pan from the stove and stir in the rest of the ingredients. Whisk quickly, in order to prevent the eggs from turning an omelette!
5. Assemble the moussaka. For this moussaka recipe you will need a large baking dish, approx. 20*30 cm. Butter the bottom and sides of the pan and layer the eggplants. Pour in the meat sauce and even out. Add a second layer of eggplants, top with the béchamel sauce and smooth out with a spatula.
6. Sprinkle with grated cheese and bake the moussaka in preheated oven at 180-200C for about an hour, until crust turns light golden brown. Let it cool down for a few minutes and enjoy with a glass of wine!

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Quick Tip: For a vegetarian version, use a mushroom based sauce in lieu of the beef!

Thanks to My Greek Dish for this creamy and scrumptious Greek dinner classic!