Moussaka

[Rachel Perlow]

Moussaka

Serves 8 as Main Dish.

This recipe is a result of the discussion on the Moussaka Cook Off thread.

• Olive Oil, for greasing pan and spraying on eggplant cutlets
  
• 3 Potatoes, small to medium
  

Eggplant Cutlets, link below

• 3 Black Eggplants, preferably male (see below)
  

Meat Sauce

• 1 large onion, finely chopped
  
• 2 lb Ground Meat: We use a 2:1:1 combination of lamb: beef: pork
  
• 28 oz canned tomato (crushed, whole, or puree)
  
• 1/2 c Wine, red or white, whatever's open.
  
• 1 tsp salt
  
• 2 tsp middle-eastern 7-spice mix (Sabah Baharat) or a combination of Cinnamon, Cloves, Allspice and Nutmeg, or more, to taste
  
• 2 tsp dried oregano
  

White Sauce

• 2 c milk, lowfat is OK
  
• 6 T flour
  
• 6 T butter
  
• 1/4 tsp salt
  
• 1/4 c sharp grated hard cheese (parmesean, feta, or other sheeps or goats milk cheese)
  
• 2 egg yolks
  

Make the eggplant cutlets, reserving the leftover bread crumbs/cheese mixture for topping the moussaka. Choose male eggplants if possible, as discussed here, they have less seeds and are sweeter.

Place the potatoes in a pot of cold water. Bring to a boil then simmer for 15 minutes to par cook. Cool with cold water, peel and slice, set aside.

Meanwhile, prepare the meat sauce by sauteing the onions in olive oil until translucent, set aside. Brown the meat, drain off any excess fat. Then add the onions, tomato and spices and simmer for about 30 minutes. Sometime during the simmering, preheat your oven to 350 F, how long into it depends on how long your oven takes to come to temp.

While the meat sauce is simmering, prepare the white sauce by the roux or VitaMix method, whisking in cheese and egg yolks off heat after the bechamel has thickened.

Oil a lasagna pan and place the potatoes in a single layer on the bottom of the pan. Top with a layer of the meat sauce. Add a layer of eggplant, then another layer of meat sauce, then a final layer of eggplant. Top the final eggplant layer with the white sauce and a sprinkling of bread crumbs and grated cheese.

Bake in 350 F oven for 45-60 minutes if eating immediately. Only bake for 30 minutes if you're baking ahead and refrigerating or planning on freezing it.

Keywords: Main Dish, Intermediate, Lamb, Beef, Vegetables, Pork, Dinner, Middle Eastern

( RG1211 )