Easy and Delicious Greek Moussaka Recipe
A very simple, balanced and delicious Greek moussaka recipe that will bring the whole family together, a dish that is very easy to make and that wows guests every time.
Ingredients :
2 large eggplants
4 potatoes
400 g ground beef
1 can of crushed tomatoes + 1 small can of tomato coulis
1 large onion
Olive oil
A teaspoon of cinnamon
One tablespoon of honey
Nutmeg
salt and pepper
For the béchamel sauce
20 g of butter
3 level tablespoons of flour
35 cl of milk
100 g grated Gruyere cheese
Preparation :
Preparation of the tomato sauce: Chop the onions and brown them in a frying pan. Add the can of crushed tomatoes and 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the cinnamon, the honey, salt, pepper, and let it reduce for 25 minutes on medium heat.
We must obtain a sauce, which we can homogenize with 1 small box of tomato coulis all ready.
While the sauce is simmering… Prepare the eggplants, cut them into slices (without peeling them), salt them generously, and let them drain while you make the potatoes
(Tip: alternate a layer of salted eggplant slices with a layer of paper towels in a dish or leave them in a colander).
Preparation of the potatoes: Peel your potatoes and pre-cook them for 5 to 10 minutes in a pot of boiling water (5 minutes for small potatoes, 10 minutes for large ones). Cut the potatoes into thin slices.
Place the potato slices on the bottom of a tall, oiled casserole dish (this will be the dish in which you will cook your moussaka). Sprinkle the potatoes with a little (3 tablespoons) of the juice from the simmering tomatoes.
Put the potato dish under the broiler for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on your oven, so that they brown.
For the eggplant: Put the eggplant slices in a frying pan over high heat to toast them a little on each side.
For the meat: In a stewpot, brown the ground meat in olive oil over high heat, season with salt and pepper and remove the water from the meat. Add the tomato and onion sauce and lower the heat (very low).
At this point, remove the potato dish from the oven and preheat the oven to 180°, thermostat 6.
For the béchamel: In a small saucepan over low heat, brown the 20 g of butter, add the flour and mix to obtain a homogeneous mixture. Add the milk little by little, never stopping to stir, it can take a good 10 minutes, we must obtain a fairly thick sauce. Add salt, pepper and grated nutmeg.
The moussaka: On top of the potatoes, spread half of the minced meat with the tomato, then half of the eggplants, then the other half of the meat, then the other half of the eggplants, a drizzle of olive oil, then the béchamel sauce, then the grated Gruyère.