Moussaka is a juicy, delicious, comfort dish, it is one of the most popular dishes in Greek cuisine and it is a favorite dish on Sunday.
On this day, all the members of the family have lunch together and usually, they have guests at home.
Versions of moussaka exist in many Mediterranean countries.
Our recipe for moussaka appeared in the early 20th century.
Nikolaos Tselementes was the first famous Greek chef and he wrote the first complete Greek cooking guide.
He gave to the moussaka a European character. He removed the many spices and finished his moussaka with a layer of béchamel.
What you will need:
For the meat sauce
– 1 kg minced meat (half pork, half beef)
– ½ cup of olive oil
– 2 onions (finely chopped)
– 2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
– 100 ml red wine
– 500 gr. grated fresh tomatoes or homemade tomato sauce
– 1 big red pepper (not spicy, cyclically cut)
– 6 corns allspice
– 1/2 bunch parsley (finely chopped)
– Salt, pepper
– ½ peel of bergamot or orange
Vegetables
– 800 gr aubergines
– 700 gr zucchini
– 700 gr potatoes
– sufficient olive oil to fry
For the béchamel
– 100 gr vegetable butter
– 100 gr flour
– 1 lt of fresh lukewarm milk
– 2 egg yolks
– 1 pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
– Salt, white pepper
– 1 cup of grated homemade cheese
For the pan
– Bread crumbs
The recipe step by step
Prepare the vegetables
Remove the stalks from the aubergines and cut them into slices, 1 cm thick.
Place them in a bowl with salted water for about half an hour.
Drain the aubergines in a colander and wipe them with a kitchen towel to get rid of the excessive water.
Fry them in plenty of oil, until nicely colored.
Place the fried aubergines on some kitchen paper, to absorb the oil.
Remove the stalks from the zucchini and peel the potatoes.
Cut them lengthwise into slices 1 cm thick and fry in plenty of oil, until nicely coloured.
Place the fried zucchini and potatoes on some paper, to absorb the oil.
Prepare the meat sauce
Heat the oil in a large saucepan.
Stir in the minced meat breaking it up with a wooden spoon.
Add the chopped onion and garlic and sauté.
Pour in the red wine and wait to evaporate.
Add the red pepper, salt, pepper, allspice, and peel of bergamot or orange.
Finally, add the tomato and the parsle
Bring to a boil, turn the heat down, and simmer with the lid on for about 20 minutes, until most of the juices have been evaporated.
Prepare the bechamel
Use a pan to melt the butter over low-medium heat.
Add the flour whisking continuously to make a smooth cream.
Add warmed milk in a steady stream keep whisking 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 salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg.
Add the egg yolks while whisking quickly to prevent the eggs from turning into an omelet.
Finally, add the cheese and mix gently until it is incorporated into the sauce.
Assemble the moussaka
Discard the bergamot or orange peel and the allspice from the minced meat sauce.
Sprinkle a baking pan with bread crumbs.
Lay the potatoes in an overlapping layer to cover the bottom of the baking pan.
Add half of the minced meat above the potatoes.
Lay the zucchini to cover the minced meat.
Add the rest of the minced meat above the zucchini.
Add the aubergines in one last layer.
With the back of a spoon press lightly the surface to become as flat as possible.
Pour the béchamel on top carefully to cover the surface of the pan. Use a spatula to flatten the surface.
Finally, sprinkle some breadcrumbs to make the crust crispy.
Bake and serve
Bake at 180o C for 1 hour. If the surface becomes too brown, cover it with aluminum foil and continue baking.
Let it cool a bit and serve it in pieces.
Remarks
– Alternatively, for a lighter version, you can lay the eggplants, zucchini, and potatoes on baking paper, sprinkle them with some olive oil, and bake them in a pre-heated oven at 200o C for 10-15 minutes until they become soft and slightly brown.
– Put the eggplants in salted water for two reasons. First, to remove any bitterness and second to not absorb too much oil when fried.
– For this moussaka recipe, you will need a large baking dish (approx. 25 X 35 cm).
– Use any mince mix you like.
– The cheese for the béchamel must not be salty.
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