This is the most recognizable Greek dish, it is cooked exceptionally long, it is time consuming and of course delicious! Strangely, if they make moussaka in Turkey (this is extremely rare), they call it Balkan moussaka.
The following recipe was given to me by my friend Maria, a native Samian (Greek from the island of Samos), which is relatively simple, and I am sure that everyone can prepare moussaka at home.
Moussaka
Course: MoussakaCuisine: Greek, Aegean cuisine
The following recipe was given to me by my friend Maria, a native Samian (Greek from the island of Samos), which is relatively simple, and I am sure that everyone can prepare moussaka at home.
Ingredients
3 medium-sized eggplants
3 medium sized squashes
potatoes about 4 pieces of medium size
grated yellow cheese – 200 grams
Bread crumbs (a bit)
butter (just a little bit)
- Spices
1 tablespoon salt – can be replace with two broth cubes
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoons oregano or others herbs – what you prefer
half teaspoon oregano
- Meat sauce
two red onions – chopped
500 grams of minced meat – beef, pork or mixed
olive oil
parsley
2 garlic cloves
2 jars tomato puree or mixed tomatoes (5 pieces)
- Béchamel sauce (you will find in the chapter with sauces)
Directions
- We start with eggplants – they must be cut, salt and set aside for an hour to let go of the water.
- Make a meat stuffing:
Glaze the onion in olive oil, add ground meat and mix, add mixed tomatoes (tomato puree), add parsley and grated or squeezed garlic. Add a little salt and pepper – I add two broth cubes instead of salt and pepper, some Herbes de Provence, a bit oregano, a bit hot pepper. Mix everything and the meat is ready. - By this time, our eggplants should already let go of the juice, so we wipe them from above with a paper towel and put in a preheated oven, where we bake for about 15 minutes – check with a fork. You can also make eggplants by frying them in a frying pan, but then they will be more greasy – it is up to you, I choose the option of baking eggplant in the oven.
- Then cut into slices of squash and potatoes and bake in the oven until tender.
- When we have it ready, we start to make the moussaka’s layers, the order is as follows:
butter – we grease the bottom of the roasting pan,
bread crumbs – pour a bit to the bottom of the pot
baked potato slices,
first layer of meat,
baked / fried eggplant,
cheese,
baked / fried eggplant,
second layer of meat,
baked squash slices,
third layer of meat,
And cover everything with béchamel sauce.
- Put everything in the oven and bake at 180 degrees for about 45-50 minutes – until the top is golden brown.
Notes
- Practical note: after removing from the oven, the moussaka must “stand”, according to my experience just to cool down, then for a bit in the fridge and will keep the form “at attention”, otherwise it will melt, to avoid this we can make a denser sauce béchamel.