{"id":7742,"date":"2022-01-23T17:27:44","date_gmt":"2022-01-23T22:27:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/?post_type=cp_recipe&p=7742"},"modified":"2022-01-24T01:10:16","modified_gmt":"2022-01-24T06:10:16","slug":"moussaka","status":"publish","type":"cp_recipe","link":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/?cp_recipe=moussaka","title":{"rendered":"Moussaka"},"content":{"rendered":"

Moussaka is a traditional Greek eggplant casserole made with baked or pan fried eggplants (aubergines) and potatoes, a rich, tomatoey beef or lamb mince sauce and topped off with a deliciously creamy bechamel sauce. In other words, the ultimate comfort food.
\nI am still trying to recreate the one I had in Athens on my first night there, on a little restaurant rooftop terrace facing the Acropolis.<\/h2>\n

Ingredients<\/h3>\n
\n
Vegetables<\/div>\n
3<\/span> <\/span> large eggplants<\/span><\/div>\n
5<\/span> <\/span> potatoes ( starchy ones like Russet or Yukon gold)<\/span><\/div>\n
¼<\/span> cup<\/span> oil<\/span><\/div>\n
Meat sauce<\/div>\n
750<\/span> g<\/span> ground beef or lamb<\/span><\/div>\n
2<\/span> <\/span> large onions chopped<\/span><\/div>\n
2<\/span> <\/span> cloves garlic chopped<\/span><\/div>\n
400<\/span> g<\/span> canned tomatoes<\/span><\/div>\n
2<\/span> tbsp<\/span> tomato paste<\/span><\/div>\n
1<\/span> tsp<\/span> sugar<\/span><\/div>\n
1<\/span> <\/span> glass red wine (or white)<\/span><\/div>\n
pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper<\/span><\/div>\n
1<\/span> <\/span> bay leaf<\/span><\/div>\n
1<\/span> pinch<\/span> cinnamon (or one cinnamon stick)<\/span><\/div>\n
¼<\/span> cup<\/span> olive oil<\/span><\/div>\n
B\u00e9chamel sauce<\/div>\n
1<\/span> stick<\/span> butter<\/span><\/div>\n
¾<\/span> cup<\/span> flour<\/span><\/div>\n
4<\/span> cups<\/span> warm milk <\/span><\/div>\n
1<\/span> pinch<\/span> nutmeg<\/span><\/div>\n
2<\/span> <\/span> egg yolks<\/span><\/div>\n
100<\/span> <\/span> grated cheese (Parmigiano-Reggiano or mozzarella or emmenthal…)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Directions<\/h3>\n
\n
Eggplants and potatoes<\/div>\n
\n
\n

You can peel all, or parts, or none of the eggplant.
\nSlice the eggplants in uniform disks of about 1 cm thick.
\nRinse them thoroughly with water until the water runs clear and season them with a good sprinkle of salt.
\nFinally, let them sit in a colander for half an hour.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Peel and slice the potatoes in uniform disks of about the same thickness as the eggplants (around 1 cm).
\nFinally rinse them under some running water to get rid of the excess starch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

I bake my moussaka aubergines and potatoes in the oven (but some people prefer to cook them in oil in a frying pan): drizzle your sliced aubergines and potatoes with some olive oil, season with a good pinch of salt and pepper and bake them spread out on sheet pans for 30 minutes at 400F until they are part way cooked and slightly browned on the outside.
\nI line the baking sheets with parchemin paper to make clean up easier.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Meat sauce<\/div>\n
\n
\n

Heat a large pan to medium-high heat and add the olive oil.
\nStir in the chopped onions and saut\u00e9, until softened and slightly colored.
\nStir in the ground beef (or lamb) breaking it up with a wooden spoon and saut\u00e9.
\nWhen it starts to brown, add the the garlic and tomato paste and saut\u00e9 until the garlic starts to soften.
\nPour in the red wine to deglaze the meat juices and wait to evaporate.
\nAdd the canned tomatoes, the sugar, a pinch of cinnamon, 1 bay leaf and a good pinch of salt and pepper.
\nBring to the boil then turn the heat down and simmer with the lid on for about 30 minutes or until most of the juices have evaporated.
\nSet aside when done.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

B\u00e9chamel sauce<\/div>\n
\n
\n

Use a large pan to melt the butter over low-medium heat.
\nAdd the flour whisking continuously to make a paste.
\nAdd warmed milk in a steady stream; keep whisking in order to prevent your sauce from getting lumpy.
\nIf the sauce still needs to thicken, boil over low heat while continuing to stir. Its consistency should resemble a thick cream.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Remove the b\u00e9chamel pan from the stove and stir in most of the grated cheese, salt, pepper, a pinch of nutmeg and the egg yolks,
\nReserve some cheese to sprinkle on top! Whisk quickly, in order to prevent the eggs from turning an omelette!
\nSeason with salt to taste.
\nTake one spoon full of b\u00e9chamel and stir it in the meat sauce.
\nSet the b\u00e9chamel sauce aside.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Assembling the moussaka<\/div>\n
\n
\n

Pre heat oven at 350 F.
\nButter the bottom and sides of a large (or two medium) baking dishes.
\nLayer the potatoes first, then half the eggplants.
\nPour in the meat sauce and spread it out evenly.
\nAdd a second layer of eggplants,
\ntop with all of the b\u00e9chamel sauce and smooth out with a spatula.
\nSprinkle with the remaining grated cheese.
\nBake your moussaka for about 60 minutes or until its crust turns light golden brown. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

You can cook this ahead of time, refrigerate once it has cooled down or even freeze it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7743,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","recipe_category":[58],"class_list":["post-7742","cp_recipe","type-cp_recipe","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cp_recipe_category-main-courses"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/cooked_recipe\/7742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/cooked_recipe"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/cp_recipe"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7742"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cp_recipe_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Frecipe_category&post=7742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}