Greek Moussaka

Moussaka has easily become one of my favourite dishes. It is a well-known dish in the Balkans and Middle Eastern countries and it knows many varieties. This moussaka is based on the Greek version, which is the best-known variety. Making the moussaka requires a bit of work, but the result is definitely worth it.

Ingredients

• 75 g unsalted butter
• 50 g flour
• 500 ml semi-skimmed milk
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 2 tsp table salt
• 2 medium sized eggs
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 400 g minced beef
• 2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 720 ml passata di pomodoro (tomato purée)
• 3 large floury potatoes
• 2 aubergines/eggplants
• 4 tbsp olive oil

Method

Béchamel Sauce

1. Melt 50 g of the butter in a saucepan. Then slowly add the flour while stirring. Cook on low heat while stirring until the colour of the flour turns lighter (this takes about 5 minutes)
2. Slowly add the milk while stirring and bring to a boil. Add 1 tsp of salt and 1 bay leaf and cook for about 5 minutes on low heat
3. Turn off the heat, remove the bay leaf and mix the eggs through the sauce

Moussaka

1. Pre-heat the oven at 180°C. Grease a baking dish with some oil or butter
2. Cut the garlic and the onion into small pieces. Melt the rest of the butter and fry the garlic and the onion for 1 minute. Then add the minced meat, bay leaf, cinnamon and nutmeg. Brown the meat in 8 minutes and then add the tomato sauce and the salt (be careful with the salt when using tomato sauce that already has salt in it). Bring the sauce to a boil and leave it on low heat for about 20 minutes without cover. Stir regularly 
3. Peel the potatoes and cut into slices of about 0,5 cm. Cook the potatoes in water and add some salt.
4. Remove the stems from the aubergines and cut them lengthwise in slices of 1 cm. Heat the olive oil and bake the aubergine on both sides until they are golden brown. Then let them drain on a paper towel
5. Divide the aubergine over the baking dish. Then add a layer of potato slices, followed by the tomato sauce. Lastly, add a layer of béchamel sauce. Put in the oven for about 35 minutes