Musaka is a traditional dish in the Middle East and the Balkans. It is a multi-layered casserole in which eggplant is always present. The rest of the ingredients may vary depending on the chef's taste.
It is necessary
-
- eggplant - 2 pcs;
- mushrooms - 500 g;
- sweet red pepper - 2 pcs;
- potatoes - 6-8 pcs;
- meat pulp - 250 g;
- parsley;
- cinnamon - 1/4 tsp;
- onions - 1 onion;
- cheese - 100 g;
- salt
- pepper
- For the béchamel sauce:
- cream 20% fat - 0.5 l;
- milk - 1 l;
- flour - 2 tablespoons;
- butter - 20 g;
- grated lemon zest - 1 tsp;
- lemon juice - 0.5 tbsp;
- salt;
- egg 1 pc.
Instructions
Step 1
Boil the potatoes in their skins. Cut the meat into small pieces - as for goulash, lightly beat, salt and simmer with chopped onions and cinnamon. You can do differently: stew the meat separately, adding salt and cinnamon, and put the onion fresh in the casserole. You can also use fried minced meat instead of minced meat.
Step 2
Grind the bell peppers, simmer in butter with the addition of water. Make mashed potatoes from cooked peppers. To do this, you can use a blender or pusher. Add mashed potatoes to the meat filling.
Step 3
Grate the cheese in a separate bowl. You can use a regular grater or a special cheese grater. The finer the grated cheese, the softer the casserole will be.
Step 4
Cut the eggplants into slices, lightly salt, pepper and fry in vegetable oil. Fry the mushrooms separately until tender. If you like a smoother filling in your casserole, you can cut the eggplant into small wedges and fry with the chopped mushrooms.
Step 5
Make béchamel sauce. To do this, take a small saucepan with a wide bottom, fry the flour in butter in it. Then gradually add milk and cream so that there are no lumps. Simmer this mixture over low heat until thickened (about 5 minutes), stirring constantly. Finally add lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. The sauce must be prepared in sufficient quantity, as they will need to water all layers of the moussaka.
Step 6
Place the prepared food in the baking dish in the following order:
1 layer - salt the potatoes cut into circles and pour over the sauce;
2nd layer - mix meat with onions and cinnamon with parsley, grated cheese and pour over the sauce;
Layer 3 - fried eggplants and mushrooms - pour over the sauce.
4th layer - potatoes cut into circles.
Step 7
Pour the remaining béchamel sauce over the top layer of the casserole, beaten with egg, sprinkle with cheese and put the moussaka in the oven to bake for 20-30 minutes. Garnish with parsley and serve.
