Moussaka easy recipe to enjoy
Moussaka easy recipe
Moussaka is probably the most famous, traditional and quintessential Greek dish of all (although interestingly, Moussaka is also commonly found in Turkey and even Lebanon). Made with lamb and eggplant, and covered in a rich béchamel sauce, Moussaka is a hearty winter or autumn dish. It is a baked casserole, essentially, quite simple to make. Serve Moussaka with an Agiorgitiko based red wine from Greece such as the stylish Gaia Estate (from Nemea). Start off with a simple Greek salad (with rich Feta cheese and vine tomatoes), serve the Moussaka as the main dish and perhaps follow it with the classic Greek dessert of baked figs. Bon appetit!
Ingredients :
2 ½ pounds (one kilo) of Ground Lamb (mince)
100 ml dry Red Wine
3 large Eggplants
1 large Onion, chopped coarsely
1 large Garlic clove, mashed
2 tablespoons of Tomato Paste
½ teaspoon of Ground Cinnamon
Salt
Pepper
Sugar
2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
1 teaspoon of freshly chopped Oregano (substitute with dried Oregano)
1 Bay Leaf
1 large Egg, whisked
600 ml of Milk (whole fat)
85 grams of Flour
2 tablespoons of Butter
25 grams (or more to your taste) of Grated Cheese: Kefalotiri, Pecorino or Parmigiano
Preparation
Slice the eggplant into medallions (thin slices) in a thick baking dish, cover in salt. Place a heavy lid on top and leave for half an hour (this eliminates the bitterness of the eggplant). In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a frying pan, adding in the chopped onion and mashed garlic when hot. Sauté the onions and garlic until tender and browned, and add in the minced lamb to fry. Stir the lamb on high heat in the frying pan, and cook for 5 or so minutes until golden brown. Slowly stir in the red wine, the tomato paste sugar, oregano, salt and pepper and the bay leaf and lower the heat to sauté for about 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes.
Wash the eggplant slices in cold water, in the meantime, until clean of the salt. In a frying pan, place the eggplant, cover in olive oil and fry until lightly golden, put aside. In a separate pan, for the sauce, you will need to place the butter, flour, and milk and heat on low heat. Heat until bubbling, without burning the mix, and place the pan aside to cool. Season the sauce and then mix in the egg.
In a baking pan, place one layer of eggplant slices, with a layer of the lamb mix on top, another layer of eggplant, and so on. Cover the tin when full, with the sauce and then sprinkle on the grated cheese to melt. In a preheated oven (to 350 F, 180 C), place the Moussaka and cook for approximately 50 minutes to one hour, checking every few minutes towards the end to see when golden brown. Serve the Moussaka hot, straight from the oven.
Try this dish with: Amethystos Red Wine, Constantin Lazaridis
From the wine region of Drama, located in Greece’s mountainous beautiful Macedonia wine producing area, in the community of Adriani, lies one of our favorite wineries in Greece- Constantin Lazaridis. Leaders in top Greek wine production and also in wine tourism in Greece, Lazaridis makes a range of wines from the Amethystos brand, to Chateau Julia, the flagship range. They also have an interesting distillery where they produce Eau-de-Vie.
The Amethystos red wine is fabulous and velvety, made with top quality (small yield) Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Limnio (a Greek grape varietal). Aged in oak barriques for 12 months, the wine has an intense bouquet with vanilla and spice and soft berry flavours on the palate. This Greek red wine pairs perfectly with Greek Meatballs and other meat based dishes. |
