Traditional Greek Moussaka

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour & 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour & 45 minutes
Servings: 8 pieces

Moussaka is to Greeks what lasagna is to Italians. This delightful dish features a rich tomato meat sauce layered with eggplant instead of pasta sheets, all topped off with a creamy béchamel sauce. While putting together this traditional Greek recipe may take some time, the delicious results are absolutely worth the effort!

About Moussaka:
Moussaka is a traditional dish made with various layers of deep-fried vegetables, ground meat and tomato sauce, and bechamel cream with cheese on top, that gets baked in the oven. Some describe Moussaka as a Greek Lasagna.

Ingredients:

For The Ground Meat Sauce:

5 tablespoons olive oil
100 grams onion minced
550 grams ground beef
½ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 small stick of cinnamon
3 loaded teaspoons tomato paste
200 grams ripe tomato diced or use canned instead
250 grams tomato sauce cut in half if using canned diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1½ tablespoons ground breadcrumbs

For The Vegetable Layers:

850 grams potatoes
700 grams eggplants
450 grams zucchini
vegetable oil for frying sunflower, canola, etc.

For The Bechamel Cream:

100 grams butter
80 grams all purpose flour
1 litre milk heated until warm
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
80 grams grated Kasseri cheese, Provolone, or Gruyere
3 tablespoons grated Greek kefalotyri cheese, Parmesan, or Pecorino cheese + a little bit extra to sprinkle on top
2 big sized eggs at room temperature
salt and pepper

Directions:

Make The Ground Meat Sauce:

Heat olive oil in a medium sized cooking pot or saute pan.
Saute onion over moderate heat.
Add the ground meat, season with salt and pepper, and break it apart with a wooden spoon for a couple of minutes until no lumps remain.
Stir in the ground cloves, allspice, tomato paste, and cinnamon stick. Cook for a minute.
Add the diced tomatoes, cook, and stir for a minute more.
Pour the tomato sauce and 1½ cups (375 ml) hot water.
Add the bay leaf, partly cover, and simmer over moderate heat until sauce thickens.
Remove from the heat and stir in the ground breadcrumbs. Remove the cinnamon stick and bay leaf.

Prepare The Vegetable Layers:

Slice the eggplants lengthwise ½cm (¼-inch) thick. Add them to a bowl with cold water to soak for a few minutes with a plate on top to weigh them down and submerge them underwater.
Slice the zucchini the same way you did the eggplants. Season with salt and pepper.
Peel and cut the potatoes into slices about ⅔ cm (½-inch) thick. Season with salt and pepper.
Heat plenty of vegetable or frying oil in a saute pan (it should cover the pan by at least ⅓) or use a deep fryer.
Deep fry the potatoes until golden and softened. Transfer them to paper towels to drain excess oil.
Deep-fry the zucchini until lightly colored. (Meanwhile, drain eggplant slices in a strainer and season them with salt and pepper.) Lay the fried zucchini on paper towels.
Deep fry the eggplants until golden in color then transfer to paper towels as well.

Make The Bechamel Cream:

Melt butter in a small cooking pot over moderate heat.
Add the flour and stir with a whisk. Cook for a minute or two (stirring constantly) until it looks golden and starts to smell nutty.
Pour in the milk and stir to combine.
Add the nutmeg. Cook the cream until it thickens. It won't get too thick, it will be slightly thicker than the consistency of custard. Make sure to stir often with the whisk and pay extra attention to the walls of the pot. Take the cream off the heat and season lightly with salt and pepper.
Stir in the eggs and both types of cheese.

Put Together:

Preheat oven to 200°C / 390°F.
Lay the potato slices in a 23 x 33 cm (9 x 13-inch) pan or use a baking dish of about the same size. It should be at least 5 cm (2 inches tall). Press the potatoes lightly with your hands to make them stick together a bit.
Layer the eggplant slices on top of the potatoes.
Add the zucchini slices on top in the same fashion.
Spread the ground meat sauce on top and then top with the bechamel cream.
Bake. Sprinkle some extra grated hard cheese on top and place the pan in the oven. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until the cream has set and looks golden on top with brown spots all over its surface.
Allow to set for at least 30 minutes. Ideally for an hour or longer. The cream will become firmer as it cools.
Cut into 8 pieces, serve, and enjoy!

Tips & Notes:

Meat: lamb is traditional, beef is equally delicious!
Beef stock: or use hot water plus 1 extra bouillon stock cube (or 1 tsp of powder)
Cheese: Traditionally this is made with grated Kefalotiri Cheese which is actually sold in some large supermarkets in Australia nowadays. But I’ve been making this with parmesan for years.
Stock powder: I like using Vegeta or chicken or vegetable stock powder to flavour the white sauce because it adds more flavour than plain salt and there’s a LOT of sauce! But plain salt will do just fine too. (I would probably add a bit more cheese!)
Eggplant: the salting removes excess liquid so the eggplant doesn’t become soggy and make the moussaka watery once assembled. Also sometimes eggplant can be bitter and this removes the bitterness.
Storing Leftovers: You can keep Greek Eggplant Moussaka in airtight food containers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Or you can freeze individual portions in plastic or microwave food containers. Thaw in the fridge overnight, reheat in the microwave for about 5 minutes.
If you want to freeze multiple portions together, place them in aluminum food pans in the freezer. Again thaw in the refrigerator overnight and reheat in the oven covered with foil at a temperature of 180°C / 356°F for at least 15 to 20 minutes.
Moussaka will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer.