Moussaka ~ Greece

[Twitchin Kitten]

Although this is native to Cyprus, this dish can be found in every Greek recipe book and the recipe rarely varies. Cyprus is also part of Greece so I stuck this here.

Moussaka
Cyprus

1 pound eggplant, unpeeled
1 pound zucchini, unpeeled
1 pound potatoes, peeled
salt

meat sauce

1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 pounds ground beef or lamb
1 1/2 cups tomato puree
1/4 cup dry red wine
3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Bechamel Sauce

1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
freshly ground pepper
salt
2 eggs lightly beaten

Cut eggplant into slices 1/4 inch wide. Place in a colander, sprinkle with salt and leave for 30 mins. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels. Cut zucchini lengthwise, slice potatoes and zucchini the same width as eggplant.

In a large frying pan over high heat, pour in olive oil to cover the base of the pan. Beginning with potatoes and ending with eggplant, fry vegetables until lightly browned. Add more oil as needed.. Drain vegetables on paper towels.

To make meat sauce, cook onion in the same pan over medium-low heat until translucent, about 8 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook for a few seconds. Add ground beef or lamb and cook over high heat, stirring often, until the color changes. Add tomato puree, wine, parsley, sugar & cinnamon. Season with salt and pepper, cover and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.

For Bechamel sauce, melt butter in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in flour an cook for 2 minutes; do not allow to brown. Add milk all at once, stirring constantly, until milk comes to a boil. If sauce is lumpy, stir with a balloon whisk. Boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat. Stir in nutmeg, 1 tablespoon cheese and salt & pepper to taste. Cover surface of sauce with plastic wrap if not using immediately.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place potato in a layer in the bottom of a greased 10 inch x 13 inch baking pan. Spread with half the meat sauce and top with zucchini slices. Spread remaining meat sauce on top and cover with eggplant slices.

Stir eggs into bechamel sauce. Pour over eggplant, spreading evenly. Sprinkle on remaining cheese. Bake until tops are golden brown, about 50 minutes. Stand for 5 minutes before cutting into squares to serve.

serves: 6
cooking time: 2 hours