I love making moussaka as much as I love to eat it; it reminds me so much of being on holiday in Greece, eating with a lovely fresh Greek salad and washing it down with a sauvignon blanc! This is my own recipe, and is probably similar to many out there. I’ve tried to recreate the flavours I have experienced when trying some of the best on various islands, I feel like I’ve achieved this, so give it a try and let me know how you get on!
Ingredients:
2 white onion
4 peeled garlic cloves
4 potatoes, peeled and sliced
4 tomatoes
1 large aubergine
2 courgettes
500g minced lamb
50g tomato puree
1 tspn dried oregano
1 tspn cinnamon
1 tspn allspice
½ tspn nutmeg
½ tspn ground cumin
¼ bunch fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
250ml of red wine
Pinch of Maldon sea salt
Pinch cracked pepper
400g chopped tomatoes
400g passata sauce
Ingredients: cheese sauce
50g u/s butter
50g plain flour
500ml milk
200g grated cheddar
50g parmesan
2 cloves
I small onion
Bay leaf
Cayenne pepper
Maldon sea salt
Cracked pepper
Method:
Boil the water for the potatoes, peel and add them in for 15 minutes, we only want them to part boil. When they are done chill under cold water, slice around 5/6mm, and set aside. Slice the aubergine and courgette around 2-3mm, be careful when doing this as they are tricky vegetables to slice thin. Once done, grill on both sides and season with salt and pepper. Whilst this is on the go, you can be dicing the onions, and fine chop the garlic, add to slightly warmed oil in a pot, and begin to sauté. Add the oregano, cinnamon, nutmeg and cumin to the pot and carry on cooking out, regularly stirring until golden. This process takes around 10 minutes. Add the lamb mince and break up, cook out the mince until browned. Now add the tomato puree and mix well, keeping the heat on a medium temperature, add the red wine, allow the alcohol to burn off, this should only take a few minutes. Add the passata sauce, tinned tomatoes, bay leaf and freshly chopped thyme and allow to simmer until slightly reduced. It can’t be too runny as the layers will sink into the mince. When happy you have achieved this, season to your preference. Whilst the mince is on a simmer, prepare the béchamel ingredients. Add the all of the milk into a pot, along with the cloves, chopped white onion and bay leaf, do not boil, when the milk is hot leave to the side for 20 minutes to infusea after we will pass this into our roux. Add the 50g of u/s butter to a pan and melt, then add the 50g of flour to form the roux. You can now pass the milk into the roux, when the ingredients have combined and you will have a soup like consistency, at this point you can add the parmesan and grated cheddar, season and add a touch of cayenne. When smooth set aside. One of the last layers which I love to add is fresh tomatoes, slice thinly and set aside. You can now build the moussaka, start by pouring all of your mince into the tray, then add a layer of potatoes, tomatoes, potatoes, grilled aubergine and courgettes, then to finish the cheese sauce and some fresh thyme. Bake on 180’degrees for 45 minutes, then turn the oven down to 140’degrees and bake for another 30 minutes. Ideally I like to leave the moussaka out to chill to room temperature before chilling in the fridge, this will make it easier to slice and portion. Serving suggestions, obviously a fresh Greek salad with some beautiful Kalamata olives! Enjoy!
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