Musaka is a traditional dish of Balkan and Oriental cuisine. The Greek version is a few baked layers. This is a very original dish that is not that difficult to prepare.
What is needed for moussaka
Based on 6-8 servings and a baking dish measuring 23x23 centimeters, you will need: 2 eggplants, 800 grams of minced meat (it can be lamb, beef, veal), 1 onion, 3 tomatoes, 180 milliliters of dry white wine, 50 grams of solid low-melting cheese (for sprinkling the surface), a little vegetable oil for frying, salt, freshly ground pepper. To prepare the Béchamel sauce, take 40 grams of butter, 30 grams of flour, 500 milliliters of milk, 2 eggs, 200 grams of hard, low-melting cheese, salt and a pinch of nutmeg.
Making the Bechamel sauce
To begin with, melt the butter in a pan over low heat, then add flour to the pan and fry with butter for another 40 seconds. Then remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool slightly. Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small container. To keep the sauce free of lumps, make sure that both the milk and the butter-flour mixture are about the same temperature, but they should not be hot.
Now put the butter and flour on low heat again and slowly pour the milk into it, stirring the mixture with a wooden spatula. Continue stirring the sauce until it comes to a simmer, then let it simmer for a while (about 5 minutes). Next, you need to rub the cheese and add it to the sauce. Stir the mixture and cook until the cheese is melted. Now just salt the sauce and add some nutmeg to taste. Then remove from heat and let stand for about 5 minutes. You can already put the sauce in the bowl.
Now take the eggs and beat them a little in a separate bowl. Add them to the sauce in two passes, stirring constantly both times. That's all. Cover the sauce with cling film so that it lies neatly on the surface of the mixture to avoid the appearance of a film on it.
Food preparation
Peel the onion and cut it into quarters of rings, then wash the tomatoes, make a cross-shaped cut on their surface, not completely, put in boiling water for 1 minute and immediately transfer them to ice water. This way you can easily peel the tomatoes. Cut them into small cubes.
Now take care of the eggplants: wash them, remove the stalks and cut them into thin slices. After that, put all the slices in a colander or bowl, lightly salt and leave in this state for half an hour. After 30 minutes, rinse the eggplant slices and pat dry. Now you can fry the eggplants in a pan in vegetable oil, then lightly dry them with napkins to remove excess fat.
Put chopped onions in a frying pan with vegetable oil, put on medium heat and, stirring occasionally, cook until soft. Now remove the onions from the skillet, add more oil if necessary, and turn up the heat. Put half of the minced meat in the pan and fry it until tender, stirring occasionally. Transfer this minced meat to a bowl and add the rest to the pan and fry it as well. Now return the first part of the minced meat to the pan, pour in the wine and mix everything. Add onions, tomatoes, salt and freshly ground pepper to the mixture in a skillet. Continue simmering until all liquid has evaporated.
Layers
The lowest layer is eggplant. Place them in a baking dish. Next, lay out the minced meat in an even layer. Now again a layer of eggplant. And the last, top layer - Béchamel sauce, sprinkled with grated cheese on top. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and bake the moussaka for about 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, take out the finished dish, let it cool for about 15 minutes, you can start your meal.
