Summer is on its way and what dish is better to celebrate the season of flavours and colours than Greek Moussaka? Sautéed potatoes, grilled aubergine, aromatic lamb bolognese and a thick layer of bechamel sauce. It is the bomb, all your neighbours will be jealous of the aroma escaping your kitchen. Get your ingredients and let's get to the kitchen Chef!
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This recipe makes: 6 portions
Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 1 hour
Ingredients for the bolognese:
250g of lamb mince (you can swap for beef or the veg substitute)
2 medium-sized onions
4 garlic cloves
a glass of red wine
4tbsp of tomato puree
cube of beef stock
1/4tsp of cinnamon
1 clove, grounded
1 allspice berry, grounded
1tsp oregano
1tsp of sugar
olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste
Ingredients for the bechamel sauce:
500ml of milk
70g of butter
70g plain flour
pinch of nutmeg
30g of parmesan cheese (plus another 30g for the topping)
1 egg yolk
salt and black pepper to taste
Other ingredients:
2 medium-large potatoes, sliced lengthways
2 large aubergines, sliced lengthways
olive oil
few tbsp of balsamic glaze (you can also combine honey and balsamic vinegar)
Instructions for aubergine:
1. Preheat the fan oven to 250C, you will also need a couple of oven trays for this.
2. Slice aubergine lengthways, not too thin nor too thick, drizzle with olive oil and balsamic glaze on both sides (aubergine will absorb it very quickly) Season with salt, pepper and oregano.
3. Roast for around 15 minutes and remove from the oven. Set aside to cool.
Instructions for the bolognese:
1. Preheat the frying pan with a little bit of oil, bring it close to the smoking point, add the lamb mince and let it brown on one side before mixing it and cooking through. Next transfer to the master pot.
2. Now, using the same pan, fry diced onions, you want them to soften and brown slightly, next add minced garlic, cook for a couple more minutes and transfer to the master pot.
3. To your master pot, add red wine, tomato puree, grounded spices, sugar and the beef stock cube and cook for 10 minutes.
4. At this stage check the seasoning, find a balance between sweet and sour, and add a touch more sugar or a little bit of lemon juice if necessary. Salt and pepper to your taste.
5. Cook the bolognese until nice and thick when ready set aside for the later assembly.
Instructions for the potatoes:
1. In a frying pan medium heat a little bit of olive oil, lay the sliced potatoes at the bottom of the pan to cover it, fry for a few minutes until starting to brown then flip them to the other side. You may need to do this in two or three batches.
Instructions for the bechamel sauce:
1. Pour milk into a medium-sized pan and heat gently on medium heat.
2. In the small frying pan, melt the butter and add plain flour, combine and cook for a minute or so, once the roux is ready add it to the hot milk whisking straight away and keep the heat on low.
3. Bechamel will start to thicken, continue whisking and when no lumps are present whisk in one egg yolk or two if you are rich.
4. Swap whisk for the spoon as it will be very thick, add grated parmesan cheese, nutmeg, salt and black pepper to your taste.
Assembling and Baking Moussaka:
1. Preheat the fan oven to 160C.
2. On this occasion I prepare my Moussaka in a cast iron pan, feel free to use a casserole dish or baking pan if you want to.
3. Layer potatoes first, season them with a little bit of salt while doing so.
4. Next, add one layer of aubergine, then top with all the bolognese mix.
5. Cover with another layer of aubergine and spread bechamel on the top, add grated parmesan cheese, oregano and black pepper.
6. Bake for 1h, eat straight away!
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Check out my other Greek recipes:
Lukasz, could you post a vegetarian version too?
Looks very good. I will try it.