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    Dhruv Baker's Easy moussaka

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    Dhruv Baker's Easy moussaka

    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

    Ingredients

    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

    Method

    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.

     

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    ‘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.’’

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