Greek moussaka with eggplant

"Biography" of moussaka

The history of moussaka is overgrown with legends. Some researchers believe that it is already three thousand years old, while others argue that it is a fairly young dish that originated at the intersection of Greek and Turkish culinary traditions after the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in the 15th century. Modern moussaka, popular in Greece, is the invention of culinary specialist Nicholas Tselementes, who always wanted to give it a European sound. It was Nicholas who added bechamel to moussaka at the beginning of the last century - he was trained by French chefs and believed that this sauce would enrich the taste of the national Greek dish. It is interesting that “moussaka” in Arabic means “chilled”; this is what the Turks call the eggplant salad, which is taken as its basis. By the way, Greek housewives have long believed that without bechamel sauce it’s just meat with eggplant, and not moussaka!

Greek moussaka with eggplant - classic recipe

Try to cook this dish because it contains healthy eggplant fruits.

Required:

Eggplants - 4 pcs.
Tomatoes - 4 pcs.
Minced meat – 300 g
Onion - 1 pc.
Garlic - 3 cloves
Grated cheese - 100 g
Parsley - 1 bunch
White wine – 100 ml
Flour - 25 g
Butter - 25 g
Milk – 250 ml
Egg - 2 pcs.
Salt, ground black pepper, ground red pepper, oregano - to taste

Cooking method

Wash and dry the eggplants. Then cut into circles no more than 1 cm thick.

Place the circles in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Cover with a plate and place a weight so that the bitterness goes away with the liquid. Let them stand like this for 1-2 hours.

Then rinse the sliced eggplants under running water and dry on paper towels.

Pour a little vegetable oil into a frying pan and fry the circles on both sides until half cooked. There is no need to fry the surface too much. Fry all the eggplants this way.

Cut 3 tomatoes into pieces and grind in a meat grinder. Leave one tomato to form the moussaka dish.

Fry the chopped onion for 2-3 minutes until transparent. For a pleasant garlicky smell, add chopped garlic.

Add the minced meat to the onion and, breaking it up with a spatula, fry it until the color changes. The meat juices should evaporate over time.

When the minced meat is almost dry, pour in white wine. Simmer until it evaporates.

Then add the rolled tomatoes, salt, pepper, oregano, sugar and mix everything. So simmer everything until the minced meat is dry.

Preparing the sauce

Melt butter in a frying pan. Add flour and fry for 3-4 minutes.

Then pour in the milk little by little and rub in the flour lumps. The result should be a sauce of uniform consistency. Add salt and pepper to it, stir and remove from heat.

Pour the sauce into a separate bowl and break up any remaining lumps with a mixer or blender.

Lightly beat the eggs with a whisk and stir them into the prepared sauce.

Formation of the dish - moussaka

To assemble the dish we have prepared:

meat filling
fried eggplant
grated cheese
tomato
parsley

Place fried eggplants overlapping each other in a baking dish. If necessary, you can sprinkle them with salt and oregano.

Sprinkle a layer of eggplant with grated cheese.

Place half of the prepared minced meat on top of the cheese.

On the minced meat layer, repeat all previous layers: zucchini, cheese, minced meat.

Sprinkle the last layer of minced meat with chopped herbs. Place half rings of chopped tomato on the greens. You can salt and pepper the tomatoes.

Sprinkle cheese on a layer of tomatoes and pour sauce over it. If the prepared sauce for pouring is not enough for you, then make it again the same way.

Sprinkle grated cheese over the sauce and place the prepared baking dish in the oven.

Bake for 40 minutes at 200 degrees C.

Briefly about the main thing

How to prepare moussaka so that the result is not an imitation, but a real Greek dish? The main thing to remember is that different countries have their own moussaka recipes. In Romania, Serbia and Bosnia, tomatoes are often used instead of eggplants; in Bulgarian cuisine, moussaka is minced meat baked with potatoes and topped with sauce, and in Moldovan moussaka there are much more vegetables than meat. How does Greek moussaka differ from other variations, except for bechamel sauce, which after baking forms an appetizing golden brown crust?

Products are placed in layers in moussaka, like in a casserole, and it is ideal for culinary experiments, which is why moussaka is so loved in different cuisines of the world. But if you add a layer of potatoes, cabbage or zucchini to it for variety, it ceases to be a classic Greek dish.

Basic Ingredients

The Greek casserole is sometimes compared to the famous national dish of Italy, which is why moussaka is sometimes called "vegetable lasagna". To prepare it you will need:

eggplants – 700 g;
olive oil – 45 ml;
minced meat - half a kilogram;
light dry wine – 150 ml;
onions – 2 pcs.;
hard cheese – 80 g;
tomatoes – 350 g.

The moussaka recipe requires a sauce that requires the following products:

butter – 80 g;
milk – 420 ml;
nutmeg - to taste;
hard cheese – 180 g;
eggs – 3 pcs.;
flour - 3 tbsp.

For minced meat, lamb or beef is twisted. Pork is not used in its pure form, only in combination with other types of meat.

Secrets of making Greek moussaka

Since ancient times, young lamb meat has been used for this dish - the younger the better. The meat is usually chopped so finely that it resembles minced meat in its consistency. Chefs recommend lightly frying it with onions and garlic before baking - this will add volume to the texture of the dish, and will also give the lamb a piquant taste and aroma, especially if you splash a little red wine on the pan. In addition, it is during frying that tomato sauce is added to the meat, thanks to which the moussaka turns out unusually juicy.

As for the eggplants, they should be cut into randomly thin slices - circles or plates 0.5-1 cm thick, then lightly salt them and leave them in a colander for half an hour. Salt will draw out all the bitterness, resulting in a softer and more delicate taste of the casserole. It is not necessary to peel the fruit; it will become soft during cooking. Many housewives, before “assembling” the moussaka, blanch the eggplants or bake them in the oven rather than fry them, since raw eggplants, like a sponge, absorb fat. If you decide to bake the eggplants in the oven, brush them with olive oil first, then when the eggplants are cooked, toss them with seasonings and fresh herbs. Then place the eggplant layers and meat in layers in a ceramic dish, pour over the bechamel sauce and place in the oven for 20–30 minutes.

Features of cooking

For moussaka, it is very important what vegetables you use. The main taste comes from vegetables, and for this they must be ripe. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to make this dish in our area, as in Greece, especially in winter. It won't turn out as tasty from greenhouse vegetables.
That's why I don't buy tomatoes in winter, but use my own prepared tomato paste. How to do this, see the link.
Some housewives do not put potatoes in moussaka, and make it only from eggplant and minced meat. Yes, you can do this, but in winter I always add potatoes. Eggplants are expensive in winter and not as tasty, but potatoes are just what we need!
When frying, eggplants take up a lot of oil, so add a little oil. Add little by little as needed. And then be sure to let the oil drain.
A good addition to moussaka would be tomato sauce made from fresh tomatoes. This sauce can be prepared in a matter of minutes: you just need to grind peeled tomatoes in a blender with salt, add chopped garlic, herbs and half a teaspoon of lemon juice.

How to choose good lamb

The taste of moussaka depends on the quality of meat - this is an axiom. Ideally, you need to find young lamb meat. The easiest way to understand what you are buying is to smell the meat. The smell should be delicate and milky. If you smell an unpleasant, pungent aroma, this means that you have old lamb meat, which should under no circumstances be used for moussaka.

The lamb should be light in color, as should the streaks of fat. In extreme cases, the fat may have a sandy color if the lamb is slaughtered in summer or autumn - but in no case yellow or gray. These are also signs of old meat. In addition, the fat of “correct” lamb is hard and easily separated from the pulp. When you press your finger into the meat, a dimple will appear that will easily level out. If the color of the dent changes and blood clots appear, it means that the lamb has been frozen several times. The best place to buy lamb is a halal store, farm or market.

Moussaka in Armenian

Moussaka (the classic Armenian recipe has an important feature: it is prepared in vegetable oil, without adding water or any sauces, otherwise it will become too watery) turns out juicy, the vegetables retain their taste, color and smell as much as possible.

The only greens used are dill, parsley and green onions.

Recipe:

Rinse the meat (it is best to mix fatty pork and beef, so the moussaka will be juicy and rich in taste), cut it, and pass through a large grinder.
Heat a frying pan, fry the minced pork and beef until crumbly for 10 minutes, breaking up any lumps with a spatula. Season with black pepper and salt to taste.
Wash and peel all vegetables. Cut onions and sweet peppers into half rings, and tomatoes and eggplants into rings.
Eggplants, peppers and onions must be fried in vegetable oil until half cooked.
Place vegetables and meat in layers in a pan: meat, onions, eggplants, bell peppers. The top layer is tomatoes. Season each layer with salt, pepper and sprinkle with a mixture of herbs.
Cover the pan with a lid, put on low heat until it boils and continue cooking for 30-40 minutes.

In Serbian

Serbian moussaka is a fairly simple to prepare, but satisfying dish, and only a few main ingredients are used:

pork and/or beef (or better yet a mixture);
2 eggs;
potato;
cheese;
milk;
salt and spices;
vegetables (onions, tomatoes, carrots);
greens for decoration;
vegetable oil for cooking.

Procedure:

Pork and beef are ground into minced meat.
Finely chop the onion, chop the carrots and cut the potatoes into thin slices.
Onions and carrots are fried in oil, minced meat is added to them, salt and pepper are added and they are fried for about a quarter of an hour.
In a greased form, lay out layers of potatoes, minced meat, then again potatoes and minced meat, and on top of them are tomato slices and the last layer of potatoes. Each layer is slightly salted.
Cover the pan tightly with foil and place in a hot oven for half an hour.
After this time, the mold is removed and the foil is removed.
Separately, beat the eggs with milk and salt and pour them over the vegetables.
Sprinkle everything on top with grated cheese and place in the oven for another 20 minutes. until crispy crust appears.