How to make Moussaka
Posted: 10 September '09 by Niall
Our recipe for Moussaka
Moussaka is a delicious casserole of lamb, tomatoes and aubergines, and flavoured with some surprising spices.
I’ll tempt fate here by saying that Moussaka is a Greek dish – it could just as easily be Arabic, as the recipe includes typical Middle Eastern spices like cinnamon and mace.
The classic Moussaka recipe uses a bechamel sauce which is spread on top of the dish before going into the oven. In our recipe, however, we use a combination of cottage cheese, beaten egg, and parmesan, giving the casserole a fluffy, golden layer above the fried aubergines.
With the minced lamb, aubergines and crust, it’s pretty filling, and there’s plenty of flavour too – just add a small green salad and you’ll have a really tasty, satisfying meal.
You can see the photos here:
Ingredients
- 2 medium onions, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 150-175ml olive oil
- 1kg lean lamb mince
- 100ml red wine
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 400g can chopped tomatoes
- 7.5cm piece cinnamon stick
- A pinch of mace
- 2 tbsp of dried oregano
- 3 large aubergines, each weighing about 300g
- 2 free-range eggs, beaten
- 400-500g of cottage cheese
- 50g Parmesan, finely grated
- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Method:
- Sweat the onion and garlic in the olive oil until the onions have become soft and transparent
- Add the lamb mince and increase the heat slightly, until the meat has browned (If your lamb mince isn’t lean, spoon off some of the fat)
- Add the red wine, tomato purée, canned tomatoes, cinnamon, mace and oregano, and lower the heat, allowing the contents to simmer gently for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally
- Slice the aubergines into 1 or 1.5cm discs and brush with olive oil
- Fry the aubergine slices in batches on both sides in a separate pan until the white flesh has browned
- Lay half the aubergine slices over the base of a casserole dish and season well
- Remove the cinnamon stick from the sauce and spoon it over the aubergines
- Add the remaining aubergine slices to the top of the dish
- Preheat the oven to 200C/fan180C/gas 6
- In a separate bowl, empty the cartons of cottage cheese and add the two egg yolks, grated parmesan, and nutmeg, stirring the mixture well
- Spoon the cottage cheese and egg mixture on top of the contents of the casserole dish
- Bake for 30-40 minutes, until golden brown and bubbling
Enjoy!
Our Moussaka, golden brown and piping hot
Tags: greek food, lamb, recipe
Categories: Recipes
