Moussaka - One of the most famous and best dishes from Greece!
The combination of vegetables, meat sauce and cheese sauce tastes magically good!
Ingredients
Meat sauce
- 1 pcs onion
- 1 tbsp Greek olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 kg minced meat / ground beef
- 1 can canned tomatoes
- 1 tbsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 0,5 tsp ground cloves
- 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley leaves
- 1 pcs bay leaf
- salt and pepper
Cheese sauce
- 4 tbsp butter
- 4 tbsp wheat flour
- 8 dl milk
- 100 gram parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 pcs egg yolk
- salt and pepper
Remaining raw materials
- 2 pcs eggplant
- 1 pcs squash
- 3 pcs large baked potatoes
- 100 gram parmesan cheese
- oil for frying
Moussaka is one of the most famous Greek dishes. Made with delicious fried vegetables topped with a very tasty meat sauce and topped with cheese sauce. There are countless local recipes and variations on this dish. I have tested several versions and this is my best recipe for Moussaka. Make a big pan, invite some friends and enjoy and dream your way to beautiful Greece.
Step 1
I start by making the meat sauce. Start by pouring a little Greek extra virgin olive oil into a saucepan and set on high heat. Cut an onion and add the oil together with the dried thyme and sugar. Cook until the onion has become shiny, soft and begins to take on color. Now I add the garlic and fry for a few more minutes.
Step 2
Add the minced meat or the beef and cook on high heat. Add cinnamon and ground cloves and fry until the minced meat has a nice color. Add tomato puree and fry for a few minutes before adding the canned tomatoes. Add bay leaves and cook for about 30 minutes on medium heat so the liquid in the sauce boils away. Season with salt and pepper and add finely chopped parsley. You can now turn off the heat and leave it on afterwards. You can prepare the sauce the day before or earlier in the day.
Step 3
The vegetables take some time to cook, but it is definitely worth the work when you enjoy this meal later. Peel the potatoes first and cut the potatoes, squash and eggplant into slices of about 0.5 cm. Find a large pan or fryer and fry little by little in the oil until it gets a golden and nice color. Place on a tray with paper towels to drain.
Step 4
Now we're going to make the cheese sauce. Start by melting the butter in one pan and heating the milk in another pan. When the butter has melted, add the flour and stir this well together. Dilute with the warm milk and stir regularly so that there are no lumps. Add grated parmesan cheese and grated nutmeg. Taste the sauce with salt and pepper. Let boil for a few minutes and turn off the heat. Add the egg yolks and stir well.
Step 5
Now comes the funniest part of making Moussaka. Now we will put everything we have made together. I have also made a film that shows this process. Start by finding a large pan with high edges. Lightly grease the pan with a little olive oil. First add the slices of potatoes, then the eggplant and finish with the squash. IMPORTANT: MIX 3-4 TABLESPOONS WITH THE CHEESE SAUCE IN THE MEAT SAUCE. Then pour the meat sauce into the pan and distribute evenly. Press down a little so that the meat sauce is distributed between the vegetables below. Pour over the cheese sauce and distribute evenly. Sprinkle over grated parmesan and your Moussaka is now ready to fry.
Step 6
Put the pan in a preheated oven at 180 degrees hot air. Bake for about 40 minutes until the top has a nice and golden color. IMPORTANT: LET THE DISH REST FOR AT LEAST 45 MINUTES BEFORE CUTTING IT UP. This is important so that the dish has time to gather and cool down a bit. Now you can enjoy a delicious homemade Moussaka. Good luck.
