Moussaka

Name: Moussaka
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Mediterranean, European, Greek
Ingredients: 907 grams ground lamb or beef; 2 Tbsps extra virgin olive oil; 1 chopped onion; 4 chopped garlic cloves; 1 teaspoon allspice; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; 1 teaspoon black pepper; 1 Tbsp dried oregano; 2 Tbsps tomato paste; 118 milliliters red wine; 1 serving Zest of a lemon; 2 Tbsps or more of lemon juice; 1 serving Salt to taste; 1 stick unsalted butter; 118 milliliters flour; 1 teaspoon salt; 946 milliliters whole milk; 4 egg yolks; 1 teaspoons ground nutmeg; 3 larges globe eggplants; 118 milliliters salt; 2 liters water; 2 Yukon gold or other yellow potatoes; 237 milliliters grated mizithra cheese (or pecorino or Parmesan); 1 serving Extra virgin olive oil

You can never have too many main course recipes, so give Moussakan a try. This recipe serves 8. One serving contains 753 calories, 32g of protein, and 55g of fat. It is a rather pricey recipe for fans of Mediterranean food. If you have butter, cinnamon, onion, and a few other ingredients on hand, you can make it. From preparation to the plate, this recipe takes roughly roughly 45 minutes.

Instructions

Prepare the meat sauce

Ingredients you will need

Sauce

Meat

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and brown the ground meat. By the way, the meat will brown best if you don't stir it.

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Ground Beef

Olive Oil

Meat

Equipment you will use

Frying Pan

Add the onions about halfway into the browning process.

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Onion

Sprinkle salt over the meat and onions.

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Onion

Meat

Salt

Add spices and tomato paste: Once the meat is browned and the onions have softened, add the garlic, allspice, cinnamon, black pepper, oregano and tomato paste.

Ingredients you will need

Black Pepper

Tomato Paste

Allspice

Cinnamon

Oregano

Garlic

Onion

Spices

Meat

Mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add the red wine and mix well. Bring the sauce to a simmer, reduce the heat and continue to simmer gently, uncovered for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat. Taste for salt and add more if needed.

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Red Wine

Sauce

Salt

Add the lemon zest and the lemon juice.

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Lemon Juice

Lemon Zest

Mix well and taste. If the sauce needs more acidity, add more lemon juice.

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Lemon Juice

Sauce

Set the sauce aside.

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Sauce

Prepare the potatoes and eggplants

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Eggplant

Potato

Mix the 1/2 cup salt with the 8 cups of water in a large pot or container. This will be the brine for the eggplants.

Ingredients you will need

Eggplant

Brine

Water

Salt

Equipment you will use

Pot

6 Prep eggplants: Slice the top and bottom off the eggplants.

Ingredients you will need

Eggplant

Cut thick strips of the skin off the eggplants to give them a striped appearance.

Ingredients you will need

Eggplant

A little skin on the eggplant is good for texture, but leaving it all on makes the moussaka hard to cut later, and can add bitterness, which you don’t want. (Some moussaka recipes leave the skin on and have you slice the eggplants lengthwise, which is an option if you prefer.)

Ingredients you will need

Eggplant

Slice the eggplant into 1/4 inch rounds and drop them into the brine.

Ingredients you will need

Eggplant

Brine

7 Brine eggplants:

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Eggplant

Brine

Let the eggplants sit in the brine 15-20 minutes, then remove them to a series of paper towels to dry.

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Eggplant

Brine

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Paper Towels

Place a paper towel down on the counter, layer some eggplant on it, then cover with another sheet of paper towel and repeat.

Ingredients you will need

Eggplant

Equipment you will use

Paper Towels

8 Boil peeled, sliced potatoes: As the eggplants are brining, peel and slice the potatoes into 1/4 inch rounds. Boil them in salted water for 5-8 minutes – you want them undercooked, but no longer crunchy.

Ingredients you will need

Eggplant

Potato

Water

Drain and set aside.

9 Cook the eggplant rounds: To cook the eggplant, broil or grill the rounds. You could also fry the eggplant rounds but they tend to absorb a lot of oil that way.

Ingredients you will need

Eggplant

Cooking Oil

Equipment you will use

Grill

To grill the eggplant rounds, get a grill very hot and close the lid. Paint one side of the eggplant rounds with olive oil and grill 2-3 minutes. When they are done on one side, paint the other side with oil and flip. When the eggplants are nicely grilled, set aside.

Ingredients you will need

Eggplant

Olive Oil

Cooking Oil

Equipment you will use

Grill

To broil, line a broiling pan or roasting pan with aluminum foil. Paint with olive oil.

Ingredients you will need

Olive Oil

Equipment you will use

Aluminum Foil

Roasting Pan

Place the eggplant rounds on the foil and brush with olive oil. Broil for 3-4 minutes until lightly browned on one side, then flip them over and broil for a few minutes more. Set aside.

Ingredients you will need

Olive Oil

Eggplant

Equipment you will use

Aluminum Foil

Prepare the béchamel

Heat milk in a pot on medium heat until steamy (about 160 degrees). Do not let simmer.

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Milk

Equipment you will use

Pot

Heat the butter in a small pot over medium heat. When the butter has completely melted, slowly whisk in the flour.

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Butter

All Purpose Flour

Equipment you will use

Whisk

Pot

Let this roux simmer over medium-low heat for a few minutes. Do not let it get too dark.

Add milk to roux: Little by little, pour in the steamy milk, stirring constantly. It will set up and thicken dramatically at first, but keep adding milk and stirring, the sauce will loosen. Return the heat to medium.

Ingredients you will need

Sauce

Milk

Add about a teaspoon of salt and the nutmeg. Stir well.

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Nutmeg

Salt

Put the egg yolks in a bowl and whisk to combine. Temper the eggs so they don’t scramble when you put them into the sauce. Using two hands, one with a whisk, the other with a ladle, slowly pour in a couple ladle’s worth of the hot béchamel into the eggs, whisking all the time.

Ingredients you will need

Egg Yolk

Sauce

Egg

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Whisk

Ladle

Bowl

Slowly pour the egg mixture back into the béchamel while whisking the mixture. Keep the sauce on very low heat, do not let simmer or boil.

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Sauce

Egg

Equipment you will use

Whisk

Finish the moussaka

Layer casserole dish with potatoes and eggplant: Preheat the oven to 350°F.

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Eggplant

Potato

Equipment you will use

Casserole Dish

Oven

Layer a casserole with the potatoes, overlapping slightly. Top the layer of potatoes with a layer of eggplant slices (use just half of the slices).

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Eggplant

Potato

15 Cover the eggplant slices with the meat sauce. Then layer remaining eggplant slices on top of the meat.

Ingredients you will need

Eggplant

Sauce

Meat

Sprinkle half the cheese on top. Ladle the béchamel over everything in an even layer.

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Cheese

Equipment you will use

Ladle

Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.

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Cheese

Bake at 350°F for 30-45 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned.

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Oven

Let the moussaka cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Equipment

Recommended wine: Agiorgitiko, Assyrtiko, Moschofilero

Agiorgitiko, Assyrtiko, and Moschofilero are great choices for Moussaka. If you feel like going Greek with your Greek food, assyrtiko and moschofilero are both lovely white wines to pair with chicken, seafood, etc. Agiorgitiko is a full bodied red suitable for roasted meats and lamb. You could try Skouras Saint George Agiorgitiko. Reviewers quite like it with a 4.1 out of 5 star rating and a price of about 18 dollars per bottle.