This dish is certainly one that makes you go nom! A perfect dish to cook up for the family, or a warming dish for a cosy Sunday evening and then leftovers for the following few days. There is a bit of an art to making a moussaka; similarly to lasagne, some patience is required when making the meat sauce. It is so well worth it though, it is seriously one of the best things I have made all year.
Collect
For the meat sauce
- 750 g lamb mince
- 2 red onions
- 2 garlic
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes
- 2 T puree
- 1 t sugar
- 1 glass red wine
- salt and pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- cinnamon stick
- 1/4 c olive oil
For the bechamel sauce
- 3 – 5 c milk
- 120 g butter
- 120 g flour
- nutmeg
- 2 egg yolks
- 100 g parmesan
Vegetables
- 2 eggplants
- salt
- olive oil
Create
- Begin by slicing the eggplants approximately 1 cm thick. It is optional whether you peel the eggplants first; I always would because I find the skin to be quite tough and chewy.
- Season the eggplants with salt and leave to sit for approximately 10 minutes. The purpose of this is to dry them out.
- Rinse off the salt and squeeze out any excess water.
- Drizzle with oil to fry/bake.
For the meat sauce
- In a pan, add oil, onion, garlic, tomato puree and mince. Pour in the red wine and wait for it to evaporate. Add the tinned tomatoes, sugar, cinnamon, 1 bay leaf and salt and pepper.
- Bring to a boil before reducing, covering and simmering for at least 30 minutes.
For the bechamel sauce
- On a low heat, melt the butter and then add the flour.
- Whisk until it forms a paste.
- Add the milk in a steady stream, continuing to whisk.
- When almost ready, add the egg yolks, salt and pepper, nutmeg and cheese.
- Whisk fast so that it doesn’t form an omelette.
To assemble
- Grease a baking dish.
- Layer the eggplants across the bottom.
- Pour in meat, and follow with a second layer of eggplants.
- Top with bechamel.
- Sprinkle with cheese.
- Bake for 60 minutes at 180°C.