Moussaka
A Greek classic of layered eggplant, potato, meat sauce and béchamel
Servings: 12 servings
Equipment
- mandolin (optional, but strongly recommended)
- 11 X 14 inch baking pan
- Sauce pots
Ingredients
Meat Mixture
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 3/4 cup (180 mL) olive oil
- 2 pounds ground meat we use a mixture of veal and lamb-but pork can also be used
- 3/4 cup (180 mL) tomato sauce we use homemade; but you can use a good quality strained tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) water
- 1 1/2 tspn salt
- 1/2 tspn ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tspn ground pepper
Potatoes
- 12 medium size potatoes we like to use yellow flesh potatoes
- vegetable oil for frying
Eggplants
- 7 medium sized eggplants
- 1 tspn salt
- olive oil for brushing onto eggplant
Béchamel Sauce
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) olive oil
- 1 cup (150 grams) all purpose flour
- 2 liters milk we use 2% lactose free milk
- 7 eggs beaten
- 1 tspn salt
- 1/2 tspn ground nutmeg
- 1/4 cup (35 grams) plain breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup (25 grams) mizithra cheese or grated parmesan or romano cheese
- 1/2 cup (60 grams) crumbled feta cheese optional
Instructions
Meat mixture
- In a medium sized saucepan fry the finely diced onion in the 3/4 cup olive oil until the onion is soft and slightly caramelized.
- Add your ground meat to the pot, breaking it apart so that you don’t have clumps of meat sticking together.
- Add the 3/4 cup tomato sauce, 1/2 cup water, 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook over medium heat, covered, for one hour.
- Check your pot frequently and stir your meat mixture. If it appears to be drying out, simply add more tomato sauce or water. When the hour is done, taste and adjust seasoning if required. Set aside.
Potatoes
- Peel and slice your potatoes into rounds, about 1/4 inch thick. If you have a mandolin, this would be a good time to use it…otherwise use a knife (and be careful!).
- Soak your potatoes in cold water for approximately 10 minutes. Drain and salt the potatoes.
- Place approximately 1 inch of vegetable oil into a frying pan and fry the potato rounds in batches. (You can check if your oil is ready by dropping in one sacrificial potato slice and waiting for it to start frying.)
- Fry the potatoes until they are golden brown on both sides and then drain them on paper towels.
Eggplant
- Turn your oven on to broil.
- Slice eggplants lengthwise (maybe you should get a mandolin) and soak them in cold water for approximately 10 minutes.
- Drain eggplant slices and salt them evenly using 1 tsp salt
- Line your baking tray with parchment paper. Place eggplant slices on tray, being careful not to overlap the slices.
- Brush top side with olive oil and broil for 5 – 10 minutes. Flip eggplant slices over, brush top side with olive oil and return to broil for another 5 – 10 minutes.You will have to repeat this step several times in order to cook all your eggplant. Set aside.
Béchamel sauce
- Heat 1/2 cup olive oil in a heavy saucepan over high heat.
- Add 1 cup flour and mix continuously so that flour does not burn and cook for approximately 2 to 3 minutes. You don’t want your flour to brown
- Slowly add 2 liters of milk and then slowly stream in 7 beaten eggs. You must stir this mixture constantly with a wooden spoon or whisk.
- Add 1 tsp salt.
- Cook béchamel sauce for about 10 minutes, until it has thickened but is still easily poured. You can tell if your sauce is ready if it coats a wooden spoon and you can draw a line across it with your finger.
Assembly
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Pour any juices from the meat mixture into bottom of a 11 x 14 inch pan. If there are no juices, oil the bottom of the pan slightly with some olive oil.
- Layer the fried potato slices on the bottom of pan. It is fine if they overlap.
- On top of potatoes layer meat mixture using a slotted spoon to drain off any excess liquid.
- Sprinkle meat with a light dusting of nutmeg.
- Layer the eggplant slices on top of meat.
- Add crumbled feta cheese over eggplant (optional)
- Pour béchamel sauce over eggplant, spreading it evenly so that all eggplant is covered.
- Sprinkle the béchamel with 1/4 cup breadcrumbs and 1/4 cup mizithra. Bake for 40 minutes until heated through and top is golden brown. Enjoy.
Notes
Make ahead tip: You can prepare the meat sauce ahead of time; just make sure you drain it before storing it. Just keep about 3 tablespoons of the liquid to line the bottom of your pan, when it's time to assemble your moussaka.
You can also prepare the potatoes and eggplant ahead of time as well.