Moussaka

Ah, Moussaka! What a wonderful comfort food and it really doesn't have to be all that difficult to make! You might need a bit more patience than for the average dish, but your friends will certainly love you when they come to your dinner party and find a moussaka baking in the oven! This creamy, baked dish full of goodness and love will surely yield some compliments ;)

Ingredients Vegetable Layers:

• Olive Oil

• 2 large (hard-boiling) Potatoes

• 1 Onions

• 1 Aubergine

• 1 Zucchini

• Thyme

• Salt

• Pepper

Ingredients Meat Filling:

• 1 Onion

• 1 tsp Cinnamon

• Pinch of ground Cloves

• 1 tbsp Tomate Paste

• 500g minced Meat

• 400g (1 can) Chopped Tomatoes

Ingredients Béchamel Sauce:

• 100g Butter

• 100g Flour

• 750ml Milk

• Pepper

• Pinch of Nutmeg

• 100g grated Parmesan

• 2 Egg Yolks

Method:

Lightly grease a baking dish with olive oil and preheat your oven to 200°C.

Starting with the vegetables:

1. Cook the potatoes in water for 5-10 minutes to start softening them a little. Drain and cut them into thin slices. Cut an onion into strips and, in a large bowl, mix it with the potatoes, and drizzle some olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper. Place in a thin layer in the baking dish and bake for about 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, wash and cut the aubergine into thin slices. Place in a large bowl, drizzle with olive oil, salt, thyme and pepper. Place the aubergines in a thin layer over the potatoes (drizzle with some more olive oil if they appear quite dry) and return to the oven for another 20 minutes.

3. Wash and thinly slice the Zucchini, drizzle with olive oil, some salt, pepper, and thyme and thinly layer over the aubergine in the baking dish. Bake for another 20 minutes. Once the time is up, all vegetable layer should be soft and slightly browned. Especially check on the potatoes: you want them to be fully cooked.

For the meat filling:

1. Dice the onion and caramelise in some olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat, for about 5 minutes.

2. Add the cinnamon and ground cloves and sauté for another minute. Add the tomato paste, stir, and add the ground beef.

3. Once the beef has browned, add the can of chopped tomatoes and sauté until most of the liquid has evaporated. You do not want the meat to be too liquid and saucy. Set the meat aside.

For the béchamel sauce:

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.

2. Once the butter has fully melted, add the flour and begin to whisk until the flour is fully mixed with the butter.

3. Now, very important, add the milk gradually and in small batches. The milk must be fully absorbed by the flour before you can add more. This is very important to prevent a lumpy bechamel sauce!

4. Once all the milk is added to the sauce, wait for the sauce to bubble. If it does, remove it from the heat.

5. Add pepper, nutmeg and the grated parmesan and mix thoroughly.

6. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks and add 2 tbsp of the béchamel to the yolks, mix, and add the yolks to the béchamel (this prevents the yolks from immediately clotting).

7. Add 1/4 of the béchamel sauce to the meat to form a sticky filling.

8. Fill the meat over the vegetables in the baking dish and finish with a layer of béchamel.

9. Sprinkle some parmesan over the top and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, until the moussaka turns golden and starts to look bubbly.

A moussaka tastes best when you let it rest for an hour after baking (or the next day). But if you're really hungry and can't resist anymore feel free to dig right in! Happy fooding!