Moussaka

I’ve made moussaka before but I found the recipe I used a little.. underwhelming. The thing about food to me is that I envision them to taste a certain way, and when it doesn’t, I get frustrated. Which leads me to what I do, hantam cook everything till I achieve that particular taste.

For this moussaka, I adapted a basic moussaka recipe, and added flavours I have on hand, with tweaks here and there. The tweak in this case would be the addition of bechamel to the mashed potatoes, but the meat sauce as well. It made it a richer and creamier. I also ended up topping it all off with drizzles of white truffle oil for that extra depth of flavour.

It might be a tad too rich for some, but I assure you just top it off with some Tabasco, and it completely cuts through the richness, which makes you just crave for more.

Preparation time: 35 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Difficulty level: 3/5

Ingredients

A: Bechamel Sauce

• 650ml milk
• 125g butter
• 3 1/2 tablespoons flour
• Parmesan, according to taste
• Dash of nutmeg

B: Mashed Potatoes

• 400g potatoes, boiled and mashed

C: Vegetables

• 400g eggplants, sliced

D: Meat Sauce

• 1 kg minced meat (I used Mutton, but do use lamb or any other meats)
• 1 large diced white onion
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 tablespoon clove
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 heaping tablespoon tomato puree
• Dried parsley and basil

• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive oil

Instructions

I labelled each section of the cooking process as A, B, C and D. It’s the exact sequence I do it to prevent less clutter, mess and washing up cause nobody wants to wash 100 utensils and pots and pans.

So start with a medium sized pot, throw in the butter, let it melt on low heat. Once melted, add in the flour, stir/whisk till it forms a choux, then add in the milk, if it’s still too thick after the milk, add more milk till it becomes similar to a thick gravy, add in the nutmeg, parmesan, salt and pepper. Put it aside for later.

Note that there will be a significant amount of bechamel cause you have to mix it in the other components.

Now, boil the potatoes in a pot with salted water. While you wait, slice the eggplants, about 1 cm in thickness. Salt the sliced eggplants lightly to release some moisture, and for better cooking.

Once the potatoes are cooked, drain them, put them into a bowl, then mash ’em up with a fork. Add in 2 tablespoons of bechamel into the mash, mix well, set aside.

Now, rinse the same pot, use it to pre-cook the eggplants! (See what I mean by clean as you go, less clutter for you!!)

Coat the bottom of the pot with some oil, pan fry the eggplants till slightly browned and tender, then put them aside.

Using the same pot, add oil, then throw in the onions and garlic, saute till translucent and slightly browned. Throw in the powdered spices; cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and bay leaves. Give them a quick stir around and then add in the minced meat.

For the minced meat, I used mutton cause I had leftovers from a previous order from the butcher. I know most of you are going “NOOOOOOO mutton smells weird.” Surprisingly, if you cook it long enough, and with the help of a dash of ginger powder, the gaminess is reduced significantly, and the tomatoes help too.

Back to the cooking process!

Once the meat is slightly browned, add in the tomato puree, stir it around, then add the chopped tomatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let this simmer till the tomatoes have broken down, and once the sauce thickens.

Add about 3 tablespoons of the bechamel into the meat sauce.

Assembly:

The first layer at the bottom was the meat sauce, topped with a layer of eggplant, and then bechamel.

Repeat the sequence till you’re almost at the top. The top layer should be the mashed potatoes, on top of the bechamel. Top the mashed potatoes with some parmesan and parsley.

Bake at 180 degrees celsius, for about 20 minutes or till the top turns golden brown and bubbly.

Top with some truffle oil if you’re feeling fancy!

Do email me at thehantamcook@gmail.com or reach out to me @thehantamcook on Instagram if you have questions!