Recipe: Moussaka

I love this dish. Lamb and Aubergine just go together so so well. In this version, I add sauteed waxy potatoes and courgette. I've only ever visited Greece once so far, to a small island called Samos. I was holidaying in Turkey at the time and Samos was just a boat-ride away so I spent a few hours on the Island, had Moussaka for lunch and then caught the boat back to mainland Turkey.

This is quite an involved recipe and takes some time, but the results are well worth the effort.

Ingredients

For the meat sauce:

900g of Lamb Mince
Olive oil
2 Medium Onions finely chopped
2 fat cloves of Garlic finely chopped
2 medium carrots finely diced
1 level tspn Cinnamon
1/2 tspn Nutmeg
2 tspns Greek dried Oregano
2 large tomatoes diced
1 dessertspoonful of Tomato Paste
A generous glass of Red Wine
Chicken stock to cover
Salt and Black Pepper to taste

For the Vegetables:

2 Shiny purple Aubergines, sliced into 1cm rounds
1 Courgette sliced into 1/2cm rounds
5-6 Waxy New potatoes sliced thinly for sauteeing
Olive oil

For the Bechamel Sauce

1 small Shallot, peeled and sliced into quarters lengthways
A good knob of unsalted Butter
A level dessertspoonful of plain flour
300ml Milk
2 Bayleaves
6 Black peppercorns
A tiny pinch of Nutmeg or Mace
1 Large Egg, beaten
Salt to taste

To finish:

A big handful of freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

Method

For the meat sauce:

Heat the oven to 190 degrees (Gas mark 6) and crumble the mince onto a baking tray. Place in the oven and bake the mince until it has dried out and only meat and oil remains. About 45 mins to 1 hour. About half way through, break the mince up with a spoon and return to the oven. With a slotted spoon, remove the mince into a bowl and break it up further. This also reduces the fat content of the finished sauce.

In a large pan, gently saute the Onion, Carrot and Garlic in the olive oil until the onion is translucent and soft but not browned. Add the wine and turn up the heat so it boils off the alcohol, then add the lamb and the Chicken Stock to cover everything well. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, cinnamon and nutmeg and bring to the boil again. Add salt to taste. Turn the heat right down and simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally and topping up with a little water if too dry. We need quite a thick final consistency so that it holds together when we build the Moussaka.

For the Vegetables:

In plenty of olive oil, over a medium heat, saute the Aubergine slices until soft and lightly browned. Put on kitchen paper to drain. Repeat the process with the Courgette and, separately, the potato until cooked through and crisp. Season all the sauteed vegetables lightly with salt.

For the Bechamel Sauce:

Heat the milk gently in a saucepan with the shallot, bayleaves and peppercorns. Don't let the milk boil over. We want it hot but not boiling. Turn off the heat and leave the milk to infuse for 5 minutes. Drain the milk through a sieve into a jug.

Wash out the saucepan and melt a good knob of unsalted butter over a medium heat. Add the flour until you have a paste (called a Roux). If the Roux isn't smooth, add a touch of Olive Oil to loosen it. Let the Roux simmer gently for 1-2 minutes and then add the milk, little by little, whisking hard while you are doing this. We need a thick sauce for this recipe. Add the Nutmeg or Mace and season to taste. Simmer the sauce very gently for 5 minutes to cook out the flour. Take the sauce off the heat and allow the sauce to cool for 10 minutes and whisk in the beaten Egg.

To finish:

In the bottom of a deep baking dish (mine is 23cm squared and 6cm deep), place the Aubergine slices in a layer. You can squish them a little so they make a good base for the Moussaka. Next add a layer of the Meat Sauce to cover the Aubergine layer. Next add a layer of Courgette and Potato and add another layer of Meat Sauce. Finally pour over the Bechamel Sauce and spread it out. Sprinkle over Parmesan Cheese and bake in an oven set at 200 degrees (Gas mark 8) for around 30-40 minutes until the top is caramelised and the whole thing is piping hot and bubbling. Allow to cool a little before slicing up.