Foodbook #864 Greek traditional moussakas

By Krevasilis | My life with multiple sclerosis | 14 Feb 2022

Good morning my friends and happy week, it's time today for one of our more famous traditional food all over the world . Let’s do this together step by step

Ingredients

6 eggplants

5 potatoes

Olive oil, for frying

Sunflower oil, for frying

For the minced meat:

750 gr. ground beef

400 gr. crushed tomato

240 ml red wine

80 gr. feta, grated

60 ml olive oil

2 onions, finely chopped

2 sk. garlic, finely chopped

2 tbsp. tomato paste

2 spice seeds

1 bay leaf

Or a bunch of parsley, finely chopped

¼ κ.γ. cinnamon, grated

Salt

Pepper

For the béchamel:

900 ml milk, whole

100 gr. butter, at room temperature

100 gr. flour, g.o.x.

100 gr. parmesan or kefalograviera, grated

2 egg yolks

A little freshly ground nutmeg

Preparation

1
We start by preparing the aubergines and potatoes. After removing the stalk from the aubergines, cut them, with the help of a knife, into slices about 0.5 cm thick. Salt them and put them in a colander for 30 minutes. At the same time, peel the potatoes and cut them into slices 0.5 cm thick.

2
Rinse the aubergines with plenty of water and press them well with your hands to remove the excess water. Dry them with a little paper and fry them in a pot or a pan that we have poured sunflower oil with olive oil in equal amounts. Remove the aubergines as soon as they get a nice dark color in a small pan lined with absorbent paper. Repeat the same process for the potatoes.
3
If we choose to cook the aubergines and potatoes then we should place them in one layer in a pan that we have coated with oil paste. Sprinkle the aubergines and potatoes with a little olive oil. Add salt and a little pepper and bake in a preheated oven at 200 ° C for 10-15 minutes or until softened.
4
For the minced meat: Place a saucepan over medium to high heat and add the olive oil to heat. Add the chopped onions and sauté until soft. Then add the garlic, tomato paste and minced meat. While sautéing the minced meat, make sure to break it with the help of an egg beater or a wooden spoon.
5
Quench with red wine and wait 2 minutes for the alcohol to evaporate. Then add the crushed tomato, sugar, cinnamon, allspice seeds, bay leaf and finally, salt and pepper. Once our sauce comes to a boil, lower the heat and let it boil with a lid for about 30 minutes.
6
Once our sauce has set and most of the juices have been absorbed, we remove the spices such as the bay leaf and the seeds from the spice. Finally add the feta cheese and the chopped parsley and remove from the heat, leaving it aside until we use it again.
7
For the béchamel: Place a saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter and let it melt well. Once this is done, then add the flour in one portion and mix with the help of an egg beater until a paste-like mixture is created.
8
Add the milk little by little in small portions, initially stirring in parallel so that it is incorporated into the mixture. We move on to the next dose only if the previous one has been incorporated.
9
After pouring the entire amount of milk, increase the heat slightly and continue stirring until the béchamel thickens. A sign of this is the large blisters it will make on the surface from one point onwards. Remove from the heat and add salt and pepper to make it more delicious. Finally add the nutmeg and cheese. Set aside until the temperature drops a little.
10
Once this is done, add the yolks and stir again to homogenize in the mixture.
11
For assembly: We take the baking tray and place it in front of us. Pour 3-4 tablespoons of béchamel on the bottom and spread well with the help of a spoon so that it goes everywhere. Then lay the potatoes, making sure they are stacked with each other. Put a layer of eggplants on top and sprinkle with a little grated gruyere. We empty the minced meat with the help of a plastic spatula, making sure it goes everywhere. Place another layer of eggplants and finally pour over the béchamel. Spread it so that it goes everywhere and sprinkle with grated cheese.
12
Bake in a preheated oven at 180 ° C for 40-45 minutes or until our béchamel is very well browned. Remove from the oven and leave for 30 minutes until you cut the first piece.