Moussaka is a bright representative of the traditional Greek cuisine. It is, in fact, puff vegetable casserole with fried minced meat, filled with cream cheese sauce. Due to its similarity with the famous Italian masterpiece, moussaka is also called " vegetable lasagna". One of its famous variations is Greek moussaka with eggplant. The recipe is proposed to be used both for the festive and for everyday table. Moussaka - very satisfying and beautiful dish. At the same time, it is very high-calorie and far from dietary: you can feed it big company or serve on the table as a full-fledged family dinner. Moussaka does not need to prepare an additional side dish due to the presence of variety of vegetables that make it even more useful. Especially this dish is suitable for those who willingly include eggplant in their diet. After all, in this dish they are especially tender, juicy and fragrant.

Moussaka with eggplant

To make moussaka you will need:

• 4 eggplants (about 700 g);
• 500 g minced meat;
• 2 onions;
• 4-5 tomatoes (about 300 g);
• 75 g of hard cheese;
• 150 ml dry white wine;
• 50 ml of vegetable oil, preferably olive.

V classic recipe moussaki in Greek with eggplant for minced meat, lamb or beef is used. In extreme cases, you can mix beef with pork in a 1: 1 ratio.

To prepare the sauce you will need:

• 400 ml of milk;
• 150 g of hard cheese;
• 2 tbsp. l. flour;
• 2 eggs;
• 75 g butter;
• a pinch of grated nutmeg.

Food preparation:

Sauce preparation:

1. Melt in a hot saucepan butter.
2. Pour the flour into the butter and fry it, stirring constantly, until slightly golden, carefully breaking up the lumps.
3. Pour in a little warm milk. Continuing to stir constantly, bring the mass to a homogeneous consistency and thicken (the sauce should have a density liquid sour cream). Remove from fire.
4. Lightly beat the eggs with a fork and carefully fold them into the sauce, trying to do it quickly so that they do not have time to curdle from the temperature.
5. Grate cheese on a fine grater. Stir it into the egg and milk mixture while it is warm to melt it. Spice up the mass nutmeg, add salt to taste and mix well.

Greek moussaka with eggplant

Moussaka making process:

1. All layers are repeated one more time starting with eggplant.
2. Pour the formed casserole evenly cream sauce and sprinkle with grated cheese on top.

For baking, it is better to use a form with high sides so that when pouring sauce over the dish, it does not overflow over the edges.

Ready moussaka is a fragrant casserole with golden cheese crust. Before serving, she needs to let it brew and “rest” for about 15 minutes so that it is saturated with the juices of all the ingredients. It is more effective to present moussaka on the table directly on a baking sheet or in a baking dish, and divide it in portions right in front of the participants in the meal.

Many chefs argue about whether to use potatoes in a Greek eggplant moussaka recipe? This is rather an individual decision that everyone makes in accordance with their taste preferences. Potatoes will not spoil the overall impression of the dish in any way, but will only emphasize its taste and give an unusual aroma.

Before adding the potato to the moussaka, it should be cut into small slices (slices), lightly fried in a pan and put in a baking dish in the first layer, then minced meat, eggplant and then according to the main recipe.

Unlike the main recipe, moussaka with potatoes and eggplant should be baked a little longer. Do not forget that potatoes are used in a semi-cooked state and they also need time to be fully cooked.

In order for the finished dish to come out less fatty and high-calorie, the ingredients can not be fried, but baked for 15 minutes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper without oil. Another way to get rid of excess oil is to lay the fried vegetables on a paper towel for 5 minutes and let the fat soak.

There are many varieties of moussaka. In almost every country there is a similar puff dish using baked vegetables, various sauces and additional ingredients, such as mushrooms, bell pepper, nuts and even exotic seafood.

Moussaka is a real find for improvisation and culinary experiments. It is worth cooking it once and it will take one of the first places in the list of favorite family and festive dishes.

Video recipe for making moussaka with eggplant, potatoes and zucchini

Moussaka with minced meat is a hallmark of Mediterranean cuisine. Nobody knows the exact history of this dish, it is prepared in many countries, and there are as many cooking options as there are countries themselves. In Greece, eggplants are added to meat, tomatoes are offered in the Serbian version, and potatoes in Bulgaria. In Arab countries, the dish is served as a cold salad with tomatoes and eggplant. By the way, the origin of the word “moussaka” (accent on the last syllable) is Arabic, and it means “chilled”.

I suggest that you familiarize yourself with the recipe for Greek moussaka, so loved by all tourists. In Greece, moussaka is also served in inexpensive cafes and luxury restaurants. But to try this delicious casserole it is not at all necessary to go somewhere, the proposed recipe with a photo is as close as possible to the classical Greek and can be easily used at home. For cooking, you will need eggplant, some potatoes, minced lamb and a traditional filling - Bechamel sauce. And, of course, almost none Greek dish not without cheese and olive oil. Vegetables for casseroles can be pre-fried or baked in the oven - do as you like. In the first version, olive oil is used to lubricate the pan, in the second - vegetables.

Olive oil is a true Greek product. First-pressed oil is the most useful, it contains a lot of fatty acids (oleic, omega 3 and 9), vitamins A, D, E, K. It is believed that such oil is not used for frying, since all the benefits disappear under the influence of high temperature. But contrary to popular belief, many Italian, Greek, French chefs fry exclusively on it. There is a way to keep the maximum benefit of olive oil: fry food over low to medium heat. If the oil starts to burn and smoke, the temperature has been exceeded. You can also bake vegetables in the oven - the oil will definitely not burn there, unless, of course, you set a timer.

Greek moussaka is vaguely reminiscent of Italian lasagna, the recipe of which is located. Only instead of dough, a vegetable layer is used. Initially greek recipe involves only eggplant, but its modern modifications allow the addition of potatoes and zucchini. Greek casserole with eggplant and potatoes is very satisfying and stands out a bit among the low-calorie Mediterranean dishes. According to tradition, it is prepared with minced lamb, but it also comes out quite tasty and juicy with pork and beef. You can even try minced turkey or chicken if you need to reduce the fat content of the dish. What else makes the casserole zest? This is red wine, which is added during the process of stewing meat. And give a special Mediterranean flavor meat dish cinnamon stick and mint. How to cook juicy and tasty moussaka step by step? Sharing the recipe!

Ingredients:

for moussaka:

• 3 eggplants (600-700 g);
• 4 large potato tubers (600-700 g);
• 3 small tomatoes (300 g);
• 1 small onion (300 g);
• 500 g of lamb or pork and beef mince;
• 200 g mozzarella;
• 100 ml. red dry wine;
• 2 cloves of garlic;
• salt, pepper to taste;
• cinnamon stick;
• a few mint leaves;
• extra virgin olive oil.

for the bechamel sauce:

• 1 l. milk;
• 100 g butter;
• 3 tbsp flour;
• a pinch of nutmeg;
• 0.5 tsp provencal herbs.

Greek moussaka recipe with eggplant, potatoes, minced meat and bechamel sauce

Moussaka is a casserole made from vegetables and minced meat. Layers of prepared ingredients are poured with bechamel sauce, covered with cheese and baked in the oven. In Greek moussaka, eggplant must be present. And I’ll also say that moussaka casserole is far from dietary, so that everything turns out tasty, you need to fry the vegetables separately before putting them into the mold. While this takes longer to cook moussaka compared to other types of casseroles, the result is definitely worth it!

Prepare pork, beef or minced pork and beef, onion, vegetable oil (preferably odorless olive or sunflower oil), potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, hard cheese, milk, butter, flour, salt, ground pepper.

In an ovenproof dish (rectangular shape), lay out the following in layers:

Fried potato wedges (on vegetable oil, on both sides, without peel, lightly salted after frying and laying out in a mold);

Fried eggplant slices (in vegetable oil, on both sides, directly with or without peel);

Minced meat fried with onions (I have minced pork, there are a lot of onions, you should also salt and pepper minced meat with onions at the time of frying);

Circles of fresh tomatoes;

More hot sauce bechamel (melt the butter, lightly fry the flour, pour in warm milk and cook until thick, stirring, salt at the time of cooking);

Hard cheese (large grater).

Moussaka in Greek with eggplant, I got a big one, it’s definitely enough for 8 servings! The form measuring 30 cm by 18 cm is all occupied:

Now put the casserole in the preheated oven (uncovered, 30 minutes, 200 degrees).

This is how the finished Greek moussaka with eggplant looks like, see photo.

hot Greek moussaka not very conveniently cut into portions - the cut is not even, it's like with lasagna. But the scent is amazing :)

Juicy, delicious Greek-style moussaka with eggplant - a piece for you, help yourself!

Good appetite!!!

Preparation time: 1 hour 20 minutes (including baking time)

Cost of 4 servings: 363 rubles

Cost of 1 serving: 91 rubles

Ingredients:

Eggplant 2pcs (400g) - 28 rubles

Onion 1/2pc - 2 rubles

Vegetable oil 30ml - 3 rubles

Garlic 2 cloves - 1 ruble

Minced turkey 500g - 180 rubles

Salt, pepper to taste

Dried oregano 5g - 5 rubles

Sauce "Bechamel":

Butter 50g - 33 rubles

Flour 50g - 4 rubles

Tomato paste 30g - 6 rubles

Milk 600ml - 42 rubles

Nutmeg 3g (from a whole nut) - 8 rubles

Salt to taste

Potatoes 3pcs (300g) - 6 rubles

Tomatoes 2pcs (150g) - 12 rubles

Hard cheese 50g - 33 rubles

Fresh herbs (melissa, oregano, basil) for serving

Cooking:

• Cut eggplant into thick rings. Sprinkle the vegetables with salt and leave for 10-15 minutes. Juice will come out of eggplant and bitterness will go away. Then drain the liquid and rinse the rings under running water.
• chop the onion small cube and fry in vegetable oil. Crush the garlic into the pan. Throw the minced meat and stir constantly so that it does not stick together. When the meat is lightly fried, season it with ground pepper, oregano and salt. It is not necessary to fry the minced meat to the end - it will reach readiness in the oven.

Sauce "Bechamel":

• In a saucepan at medium heat, start melting the butter. Knead it with flour, constantly stirring. You need to pass through until a nutty flavor. The consistency of the mixture should not be similar to softened plasticine, it should be more viscous.
• Then add tomato paste and keep kneading. Gradually pour in the milk, stirring quickly. Stir until the consistency is medium in density and until the lumps disappear.
• Season with nutmeg and salt when the sauce is almost done.

• Cut potatoes and tomatoes into round slices. Divide potatoes into two equal parts.
• Place the first layer of potatoes in a baking dish. Salt and pepper a little. Then make a layer of tomatoes and pour sauce over it. Put all the stuffing on top. Drizzle with sauce again. Then put in the eggplant. Continue layers in the following order: sauce - potatoes - sauce.
• Send to the oven at a temperature of 200 degrees for 45 minutes. 5 minutes before the end of cooking, sprinkle the moussaka with grated cheese.
• After cooking, allow the dish to cool slightly and infuse.

Moussaka is a dish similar to borscht. There are also endless disputes about it - what ingredients, in what order, eggplant processing technology, which cuisine belongs to ... I still tend to Greek cuisine. Otherwise, where would this recipe come from in my family of Ukrainians-Russians-Moldovans-Jews? Nothing but the influence of the Azov Greeks;)

So, for my moussaka, the following ingredients were needed:

Ground meat:

4 small eggplants

400 gr. homemade minced meat(300 beef, 100 pork)

2 large sweet onions (I used white/pearl onions)

3 large garlic cloves

3 large fleshy tomatoes

green basil

salt,

freshly ground black pepper

olive oil

Sauce:

500 ml milk

50 gr. butter

50 gr. flour

salt,

freshly ground black pepper

nutmeg

First of all, we send blue ones to the oven, they are eggplants. Many advise pricking so that the skin does not burst. But, since we are taking off this skin, it makes no difference to us whether it bursts or not. the photo just shows one eggplant with a burst skin. During the ripening time in the oven, turn them over a couple of times so that they bake evenly everywhere. Take out and let cool.

While the blue ones are cooling down, cut the onion - I cut it finely, I don’t like large onions in the dish, caramelize it for 5 minutes over low heat in vegetable oil, add chopped garlic - fry for 2 minutes.

Add minced meat and stir well so that the minced meat becomes grains. Speaking of minced meat, in general, we always make moussaka with lamb, but in difficult times, beef and pork go well. For my taste, it's strong for the quality ready meal does not affect. add coarsely chopped tomatoes, chopped greens to the minced meat. I used a mixture of lemongrass basil and clove basil. They give such a strong aroma for a couple that I considered it blasphemous to add anything else. Salt, pepper. Let it simmer for another 5 minutes.

We clean the blue ones, cut into pieces, add to the minced meat. Transfer to a heatproof bowl.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. This is a classic bechamel. We take the butter, melt it in a saucepan, add the flour and actively stir for a couple of minutes so that the flour does not burn and mixes well with the butter. Then add cold milk. Mix vigorously so that there are no lumps. add salt, SSChP and nutmeg on the tip of a knife. Voila, the sauce is ready. If yours is very thick, add milk. And if you like the cheesy taste, add grated parmesan to it.

Pour the prepared minced meat with the sauce.

And put it in the oven for 30 minutes.

Readiness is checked by smell. When it gets to the bedroom, to the husband for a laptop, who immediately comes off his car forums and rushes to the kitchen for his big spoon, then it's ready.

Our family loves a juicy, non-photogenic mash :) And if you like moussaka more, which can be cut and will keep its shape, drain the excess liquid before placing the minced meat in a heat-resistant form. And you will have drier moussaka.

Bon Appetit.