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Dhruv Baker's Easy moussaka
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Moussaka is probably the most famous of all Greek dishes. My simplified version has a yoghurt-based topping instead of the traditional white sauce, making it perfect for a quick, mid-week supper. It’s also a fantastic example of a dish that uses only one spice, cinnamon, which really comes into its own when used in savoury dishes.
Serves: 4
7 tbsp light olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
500g lamb mince
400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp finely chopped
fresh oregano
500ml lamb stock
2 large aubergines, sliced into 5mm rounds
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the topping
250g Greek yoghurt
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
150g mature Cheddar cheese, grated
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.
2 Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large pan and fry the onion over a medium heat until soft and starting to colour. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.
3 Add the mince to the pan and cook for 10–12minutes until nicely browned. Add the tomatoes, tomato purée cinnamon, oregano and stock and cook, partially covered, for about 1 hour, stirring every 10 minutes or so to prevent it sticking.
4 While the meat is cooking, heat the remaining olive oil in a pan and fry the aubergine slices over a medium heat for 4–5 minutes, until golden but not crisp. Drain on kitchen paper, season with salt and pepper and set aside.
5 To assemble, spoon one-third of the lamb mixture into the bottom of an ovenproof dish and top with a layer of aubergine slices. Add another layer of meat, then a layer of aubergine and repeat until all the meat and aubergine slices have been used up.
6 Whisk together the ingredients for the topping and pour this mixture over the top. Cook in the oven for 30–40 minutes, until the top is golden.
‘Images and text from ‘Spice - Layers of Flavour by Dhruv Baker is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
Photo credits:
Food photography (c) Kate Whitaker. Photo of Dhruv Baker (c) Simon Derviller.’’
This recipe was first published in August 2014.
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