Moussaka - Greek Recipe

This is a traditional Greek dish of minced meat and mainly eggplants topped with creamy béchamel sauce. This dish could be a main course or a side dish as well. It is always served with green salad. You can also have it with meat cooked on the grill.


INGREDIENTS (10 - 12 servings)


6 large eggplants
3 large potatoes
7 large zucchini
1 kg of pork minced meat finely chopped
½ kg of lamb minced meat finely chopped
1 large onion thinly chopped
2 large cloves of garlic thinly chopped
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 ½ cup olive oil for frying the vegetables
2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 cube of chicken stock
1 cup of tomato juice
4 tablespoons finely chopped parsley


For the topping
2 tablespoons butter (or corn oil)
3 - 4 tablespoons flour
2 cups fresh milk (hot)
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons grated hard anari cheese
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon white pepper
A bit of salt


Method of Preparation
Cut the eggplants into slices and put them in salted water for 2 hours approximately. Remove eggplants from water and squeeze them so they drain the excess water. Cut the potatoes and zucchini into slices as well. Heat olive oil in a deep frying pan with heavy bottom and fry the eggplants, the potatoes and the zucchini until soften without getting brown. Arrange them on a kitchen towel paper to absorb the excess olive oil. (You can avoid frying the vegetables by putting everything in the oven until they become soft. NOT COOKED). In a clean frying pan heat olive oil and sizzle the onion and garlic until they golden brown, without getting burned. Add pork and lamb minced meat, stir constantly, add all spices and chicken stock along with a bit of salt. Cook for 6 - 7 minutes or until all fluids are absorbed and minced meat becomes brown. Then add tomato juice and at the end the chopped parsley. Arrange potato slices on a large size baking dish. Then put a layer of eggplants and on top of that a layer of zucchini. Sprinkle minced meat and continue with another layer of vegetables in the same order. Prepare béchamel sauce as follows: In a small saucepan melt butter, remove from the heat and add flour, stirring constantly with a wooden ladle till the mixture thickens. Then put the saucepan back to the heat and add the hot milk stirring continuously until the mixture becomes like a cream. Remove from the heat. Take a cup of that mixture and add the beaten egg yolks in it. Then mix everything together. Place the saucepan in the heat, in low temperature, stirring constantly till it becomes a thick and homogeneous sauce. Sprinkle cheese and add a touch of salt and nutmeg. Spoon the sauce over all the vegetables and minced meat. Bake for 30 - 45 minutes in a preheated 180 degrees oven until the sauce golden browns. Serve warm.