Rick Stein Moussaka Recipes

TRADITIONAL MOUSSAKA RECIPE WITH EGGPLANTS (AUBERGINES) AND POTATOES

Steps:

• To prepare this Greek moussaka recipe, begin by preparing the eggplants. Remove the stalks from the eggplants and cut them into slices, 1 cm thick. Season with salt and place in a colander for about half an hour.
• and squeeze with your hands, to get rid of the excessive water. Pat them dry and fry in plenty of oil, until nicely colored. Place the fried eggplants on some paper, in order to absorb the oil. (For a lighter version of the traditional Greek moussaka try drizzling the aubergines with some olive oil and bake them for 20 minutes instead of frying them). Set aside when done.
• If you are adding potatoes to your moussaka, now its time to slice them into 0.5cm, half a finger width slices. Fry them or bake them in the same way as the eggplants. Season with some salt and set them aside when done.
• for the moussaka. Heat a large pan to medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Stir in the chopped onions and sauté, until softened and slightly colored. Stir in the mince breaking it up with a wooden spoon and sauté. When it starts to brown, add the the garlic and tomato paste and sauté until the garlic starts to soften. Pour in the red wine to deglaze the meat juices and wait to evaporate. Add the tinned tomatoes, the sugar, a pinch of cinnamon, 1 bay leaf and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to the boil then turn the heat down and simmer with the lid on for about 30 minutes or until most of the juices have evaporated. Set aside when done.
• for the moussaka. Use a large pan to melt the butter over low-medium heat. Add the flour whisking continuously to make a paste. Add warmed milk in a steady stream; keep whisking in order to prevent your sauce from getting lumpy. If the sauce still needs to thicken, boil over low heat while continuing to stir. Its consistency should resemble a thick cream.
• Remove the béchamel pan from the stove and stir in the egg yolks, salt, pepper, a pinch of nutmeg and the most of the grated cheese. Reserve some cheese to sprinkle on top! Whisk quickly, in order to prevent the eggs from turning an omelette! Season with salt to taste. Take one spoon full of béchamel and stir it in the meat sauce. Set the béchamel sauce aside.
• Now its time to assemble the moussaka. For this moussaka recipe you will need a large baking dish, approx. 20x30cm / 8x12inch and 8cm/3 inch deep). Butter the bottom and sides of the pan and layer the potatoes first (if you're using them), then half the eggplants. Pour in all of the meat sauce and spread it out evenly. Add a second layer of eggplants, top with all of the béchamel sauce and smooth out with a spatula.
• . Preheat you oven at 180C/350F and bake your musaka for about 60 minutes or until its crust turns light golden brown. Even though it will be really hard to do so, you should wait for the moussaka to cool down and be just warm to the touch before cutting into pieces. This will prevent the béchamel sauce from pouring out when you're cutting your pieces.
• Serve the Moussaka with a refreshing Traditional Greek Salad and enjoy over a glass of wine!

GREEK-STYLE MOUSSAKA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven at 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
• For the lamb sauce, heat two teaspoons of the oil in a pan. Add the onions and garlic and fry until just beginning to brown. Add the minced lamb and fry over a high heat for 3-4 minutes. Add the wine, tomatoes, cinnamon and oregano and simmer gently for 30-40 minutes while you make everything else.
• Slice the stalks off the aubergines and cut them lengthways into 5mm/¼in slices. Heat a frying pan until it is jumping hot, add one tablespoon of the oil and a layer of aubergine slices and fry quickly until tender and lightly coloured on each side. Lift out with tongs (every kitchen should have some!), layer over the base of a 2.5-2.75 litre/4 ½-5 pint shallow ovenproof dish and season lightly with a little salt and pepper. Repeat with the rest of oil and aubergines and seasoning each layer as you go.
• For the topping, melt the butter in a non-stick pan, add the flour and cook over a medium heat for one minute to cook out the flour. Gradually beat in the milk, bring to the boil, stirring, and leave to simmer very gently for 10 minutes, giving it a stir every now and then. Stir in the cheese and some salt and pepper to taste. Cool slightly and then beat in the eggs.
• Remove the cinnamon stick from the lamb sauce, season to taste with some salt and pepper and spoon it over the top of the aubergines. Pour over the topping and bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden-brown and bubbling.

CLASSIC MOUSSAKA

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Peel the potatoes. Slice some of the aubergine skin off in strips. Slice them both into ½cm rounds. Lay them all out on a couple of baking or roasting trays and brush with olive oil. Season and roast in the oven for 35-40 minutes, until golden. Remove and set aside. Trim and finely slice the courgettes and keep to one side. Meanwhile, peel and finely chop the onions and garlic. Pour a couple of tablespoons of olive oil into a large saucepan over a medium-low heat. Sauté the onions and garlic for 10 minutes, until starting to soften. Add the ground cinnamon, oregano and all the mince. Break everything up with a wooden spoon and turn the heat up a little. Fry until any liquid evaporates and it starts to turn lightly brown. Stir in the purée, then add the wine and bring to the boil. Leave to rapidly simmer for 5 minutes, until the wine has reduced by more than half, then stir in the passata, bay leaf and cinnamon stick. Season generously, bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook on a low heat for 30 minutes, until thickened and reduced. Heat the milk in a small pan. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat and stir in the flour and baking powder. Once they have made a paste, slowly start to whisk in the warmed milk, until you have a smooth white sauce. Leave it to thicken over a low heat until it coats the back of a spoon. Grate in half the cheese and a generous amount of nutmeg. Season to taste. When the meat and white sauce are ready, layer up the moussaka. You'll need a large roasting tray, about 25cm×30cm in size. Layer a third of the baked veg and courgettes in the base of the tray and spoon over half of the mince. Repeat with half the remaining veg, the rest of the mince and then the last of the vegetables. Whisk the eggs into the white sauce and pour over the moussaka. Grate over the remaining cheese and place the dish in the oven. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top is golden and bubbling and everything is cooked through. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving, if not longer.

PATRICK LEIGH FERMOR'S MOUSSAKA

Steps:

• Begin by salting the aubergine and courgette slices and leaving them for about 30 minutes, then rinse and dry on kitchen paper. Fry in plenty of the olive oil over a medium heat until lightly browned and starting to soften, then drain on kitchen paper and set aside. Fry the potatoes in the same way. In a separate pan, heat 70ml of the olive oil and fry the onions and garlic for 5 minutes until softened.Add the minced beef and brown it before adding the tomatoes,cinnamon stick, bay leaf, ₁½ teapoons salt and the pepper. Simmer for 30-40 minutes.When done, remove the cinnamon and bay leaf. In a deep ovenproof dish, about 24cm x 35cm, arrange the potatoes in a layer.Top with a third of the beef, then the aubergine, another third of the beef, the courgettes,and finish with the remaining beef. Heat the oven to 220°C/gas 7.Make the béchamel sauce: melt the butter in a saucepan over a gentle heat, stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes so it loses its raw taste. Slowly incorporate the milk, and continue stirring until the sauce thickens.Remove from the heat and whisk in the eggs,nutmeg and 100g of the grated cheese. Spread the béchamel over the layered meat and vegetables and top with a further 50g grated cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, then take out and leave to cool. Serve warm.The dish is also very good the following day.