Classic moussaka recipe
A traditional recipe in Greek and Cypriot cuisines, this is one of those dishes that everyone has a variation of. People think that lamb is the most common meat used in a moussaka, however, in many families pork is the traditional choice. It's up to you whether you make it with pork, beef, a mix of the two, or lamb.
Ingredients
- 700 g potatoes, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
- 3 aubergines, sliced into thin rounds
- 2 courgettes, trimmed and thinly sliced
- 3 onions, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1.5 tsp dried oregano
- 500 g mince (your choice of beef, pork or lamb, or a mixture)
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 200 ml red wine
- 400 ml passata
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 stick of cinnamon
- 1.2 l milk
- 100 g unsalted butter
- 125 g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 80 g kefalotyri cheese, for grating (you can use pecorino instead)
- 3 eggs
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 whole nutmeg, for grating
Details
- Cuisine: Greek Cypriot
- Recipe Type: Main
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 15 mins
- Cooking Time: 140 mins
- Serves: 6
Step-by-step
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
- Lay the sliced potatoes and the aubergines all out on a couple of baking or roasting trays and brush with olive oil. Season and roast in the oven for 35–40 minutes, until golden. Remove and set aside.
- Meanwhile, pour a couple of tablespoons of olive oil into a large saucepan over a medium-low heat. Sauté the onions and garlic for 10 minutes, until starting to soften. Add the ground cinnamon, oregano and all the minced (ground) meat. Break everything up with a wooden spoon and turn the heat up a little. Fry until any liquid evaporates and it starts to turn lightly brown.
- Stir in the purée, then add the wine and bring to the boil. Leave to rapidly simmer for 5 minutes, until the wine has reduced by more than half, then stir in the passata, bay leaf and cinnamon stick. Season generously, bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook on a low heat for 30 minutes, until thickened and reduced.
- Heat the milk in a small pan. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat and stir in the flour and baking powder. Once they have made a paste, slowly start to whisk in the warmed milk, until you have a smooth white sauce. Leave it to thicken over a low heat until it coats the back of a spoon. Grate in half the cheese and a generous amount of nutmeg. Season to taste.
- When both the meat and white sauces are ready, layer up the moussaka – you’ll need a large roasting tray.
- Layer a third of the baked aubergines and potatoes, as well as the courgettes in the base of the tray and spoon over half of the mince. Repeat with half the remaining veg, the rest of the mince and then the last of the vegetables.
- Whisk the eggs into the white sauce and pour over the moussaka. Grate over the remaining cheese and place the dish in the oven. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top is golden and bubbling and everything is cooked through. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving, if not longer.
This recipe is from Taverna by Georgina Hayden. The book is published by Square Peg and is available to buy now.
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