It is no secret that I love greek food. My stomach simply can’t get enough of the delicous fatty recipes that Greek people have come up with. Among these hearty recipes,
moussaka stands out as one of my favorites. I made it for a birthday dinner last week, and the deliciousness is well worth the preperation time.
Ingredients
Meat filling
- Beef mince
- White onion
- Garlic
- Tomato passata
- Tomato concentrate
- Bay leaves
- Cinnamon (powder, sticks also work and give an even nicer taste)
- Oregano
- Sugar
- Salt
- (Cheap) red wine
- Olive oil
- Beef stock (cubes or homemade)
Besamel sauce (not a typo)
- Butter (equal part butter to flower)
- Flour
- Milk (cold)
- Nutmeg
- Eggs (not vital, but help the sauce brown, creating a nicer color)
- Parmesan
Eggplant bottom
Cooking plan
Eggplant bottom
- Start with the bottom of your moussaka by cutting your eggplant into circular slabs of about 1 cm thick.
- Sprinkle salt over your slabs and let the moisture be drawn out of the eggplant. Let them rest for about 30 minutes while you continue with your meat filling.
- Preheat an oven to about 200 degrees Celcius.
Meat filling
- Add some olive oil to a large pan and set it on medium heat. Finely chop up your onions and add them to the pot to caramelise.
- After your onion has browned, turn the heat to high and add your beef mince. Stir it until it has browned, and then add your garlic.
- After your garlic has become fragrant, add your cinnamon, oregano, salt and about a tbsp of sugar to taste. Stir for a bit, before adding wine to almost cover your meat.
- After the alcohol smell is gone, add your tomato concentrate and let it cook a little on high heat.
- Finally, add your tomato passata and cover your pan in beef stock. Let this reduce for a while, until filling has become rather thick.
Eggplant bottom
- Pat your eggplant dry of moisture and rub away some of the salt you have previously added.
- On a baking tray (or multiple depending on how much you are making), lay out your eggplants and put them in the oven for about 30 minutes. You’ll know when they are done when they have become soft.
- Once done, take them out of the oven and lay them to rest while you prepare the besamel sauce.
- Turn the oven to 180 degrees Celcius now, as that is the temperature we will be cooking the moussaka in.
Besamel sauce
- In a (large) sauce pan, melt your butter and let it sit until it becomes a little browned.
- Next, add an equal part flower and stir it into the butter (it is easier with slightly more butter if you are struggling with this sauce). You should get a paste that has a texture akin to wet sand, and it should be bubbling a little.
- Next, add in a bunch of cold milk (about 500 ml per 30 grams of butter/flour). Some people say you should add it incrementally, but I have found that adding it all in one batch helps make the sauce smoother.
- Let this sauce simmer for a few minutes, until it has become thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. When you run your finger over the spoon, the line drawn should stay.
- Finally, stir in a little nutmeg, some eggs and a bunch of parmesan. The parmesan is what gives this sauce most of its flavor, so be generous.
Assembly
- In a cast iron pan, first layer your eggplant, cover that with meat filling, and finally cover it with your besamel sauce.
- Put it in the oven for about 40 minutes, until golden brown.
- Let it rest for a bit before serving for the best result.
ENJOY!!