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Moussaka

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Moussaka

This is a recipe that takes time to prepare but can be made and chilled in advance. A 25cm square baking dish, around 10cm deep, is ideal for this dish, or you could use a lasagne pan, around 30 x 25cm.

Preparation time:
90 minutes
Cooking time:
40 minutes to 60 minutes
Total time:
2 hours 10 minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes 60 minutes 60 minutes 30 minutes
Serves:
 6

Ingredients

  • 200ml olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely diced
  • 1 clove garlic, finely diced
  • ΒΌ tsp ground cinnamon
  • Pinch of ground allspice
  • 500g minced lamb
  • 200ml white wine
  • 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
  • 1 tbsp roughly chopped fresh oregano
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 30g finely grated Parmesan
  • 1kg aubergines
  • White Sauce and Topping
  • 30g finely grated Parmesan
  • 568ml carton milk
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 3 black peppercorns
  • 75g butter
  • 75g plain flour
  • 2 egg yolks

Method

  1. Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a saucepan over a low heat. Add the onion and garlic and gently fry until soft. Add the cinnamon and allspice and continue to fry for 2 minutes, before mixing in the minced lamb. Increase the heat slightly and stir-fry the meat briskly until it separates into small granules and turns brown. Add the wine, tomatoes, lemon zest, parsley and oregano and bring to the boil. Adjust the seasoning and reduce the heat so the meat gently simmers. Cook for 30 minutes or until rich and thick, then beat in the Parmesan and adjust the seasoning.
  2. Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas 5. Make the white sauce: put the milk, bay leaf and peppercorns into a saucepan. Set over a low heat, and 'scald' the milk by bringing it up to boiling point then removing from the heat. Cover the pan and leave to infuse for 20 minutes.
  3. While the milk is infusing, top and tail the aubergines and cut them lengthways into slices about 7.5mm thick. Pour a little of the remaining olive oil into a non-stick frying pan and set over a medium-high heat. Once hot, add a single layer of aubergine slices and fry briskly until pale gold on both sides. As they cook, they will begin to release some of the oil they initially absorbed. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper and gently pat with extra paper to soak up some of the excess oil. Repeat the process with the remaining aubergine and oil, then lightly season the aubergine slices.
  4. Finish the white sauce by melting the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Stir in the flour, to make a roux, and cook for about 3 minutes. This might seem a lot of butter and flour but you are making a thick, yet light topping. Strain the flavoured milk and, using a wooden spoon, slowly stir it into the roux, only adding more milk after it has been smoothly absorbed into the roux. You will end up with a thick sauce. Simmer over a very low heat for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Then remove from the heat and beat in the two egg yolks. Add salt to taste.
  5. Line the bottom of your baking dish with half the aubergine slices. Cover with the meat, followed by the remaining aubergine. Then evenly spread the warm white sauce over the top and scatter with the final 30g Parmesan. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until the topping has formed a thick, golden crust. Leave to stand for 5 minutes before serving in slices. If you're making the dish in advance, leave the uncooked moussaka to cool, then cover and chill until needed. You'll need to bake the chilled moussaka for 40 minutes covered with foil, then for a further 20 minutes uncovered.

Comments and images

Average user rating 4 stars out of 5

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Dr Eat More Veg

Dr Eat More Veg 20 April 2009 17:04

I really like this recipe, I cooked it a number of time for my for my vegetarian friends, by subbing the Lamb for Quorn mince, it works exceptionally well!

marcopuffin

marcopuffin 15 February 2009 13:12

All Waitrose recipes tend to be very good. With this one, I would question the necessity of all the palava over the white sauce. A quick version could be an option (in a bowl, whip egg, milk, grated cheese, salt and pepper, bit of flour, maybe a bit of philadelphia. then just pour mixture over your moussaka structure). Sometimes these recipes seem to add in twiddles almost for the sake of the artistry of it! But we don't all have that kind of time! PS waitrose I love you!

GrannieW

GrannieW 18 October 2007 14:55

I cooked this for a party of four and while I thought it was rather good, two of the party did not enjoy it at all. I really wondered if it was worth the long preparation time and my meat sauce part of the receipe was rather 'sloppy', I think less wine. OK but not really worth the effort involved in preparation.

Nan Davies

Nan Davies 02 September 2007 18:46

I really enjoyed this recipe. I actually just made an all-in-one cheese sauce (Delia-style) and added some cheddar as well as the parmesan but left out the eggs. It was gorgeous! It took quite a while to prepare but I think that it should get easier the more times you make it.

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4 stars out of 5

Average user rating Based on 128 ratings

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This recipe was first published on Waitrose.com in April 2003