Greek Moussaka

So we made Moussaka over the weekend. I followed this recipe for most of the way when preparing the lamb, but used store bought white sauce and added a layer of potatoes. The recipe says Prep time: 45 minutes and Cook Time: 60 minutes, all in less than two hours and seemed tempting so I embarked on the journey. It took me just under 5 hours, totally my mistake as I like to slice the vegetables thinly- this elevated the taste but I spent three hours just frying the slices of potatoes and aubergines, but the Moussaka was well worth it! Also I was making two moussakas with the same quantity of ingredients, however you could just use a one baking dish and assemble one moussaka and slice the vegetables per the traditional recipe about 0.5 cm thick. While I am jotting the recipe the way I made it, I will be making it again and try to use short cuts (boiled potatoes/baked aubergines etc) and will document it here shortly!

Ingredients:

• 600g Potatoes (sliced)
• 2 large Aubergines (sliced – I only had two so I upped the potato content, you could use 3 large aubergines and reduce the potatoes to 500g)
• 800g Lamb Mince
• 2 Onions (chopped)
• 2 cloves of Garlic (chopped)
• 1 tin Chopped Tomatoes (400g / 14oz)
• 2 tbsp Tomato Puree
• 1/2 tsp Sugar
• 1 glass of Red Wine
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1 stick of Cinnamon
• Olive Oil
• 2 bottles Ready Made White Sauce
• Parmesan Cheese (grated)

Method:

Fry the aubergine and potato slices (it would be advisable to slice them to about 0.5 cms, sliced them thinner and there will be a lot to fry – slicing them thicker will save you atleast two and half hours!) and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add the onions and fry until soft and starts to change colour.

Next add the lamb mince and brown it.

Add the chopped garlic and fry till the raw smell disappears.

Add the tinned tomato, bay leaf, wine, salt and pepper and cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes stirring continuously and then let it simmer for about 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 180°C (200°C if using a conventional oven).

Assemble the moussaka, grease the baking dish with butter and arrange the first layer of potatoes.

The next layer is half of the fried aubergine slices and top with all the meat sauce.

Next layer is the remaining aubergine slices and top with the white sauce.

Sprinkle generously with grated parmesan cheese and pop in the oven for 60 minutes or till the top is nicely golden brown.

Once the moussaka is out of the oven wait for atleast an hour before slicing it – this lets the white sauce set.

Serve with salad of your choice.