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moussaka recipe

Moussaka Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 105 reviews

Description

An authentic, delicious recipe for Eggplant Moussaka- with a Tomato lamb sauce, and creamy béchamel sauce. Vegetarian Adaptable! Can be made ahead and baked prior to serving. See notes for VEGAN.


Ingredients

Units Scale

Tomato Meat Sauce:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, rough chopped
  • 2 lbs ground lamb, ground beef (or use vegetarian ground meat substitute -Gimme Lean or St Ives Meatless Ground, or use 4 cups cooked lentils). I prefer lamb.
  • 1 1/2 cups diced tomatoes, with juices (or 14-ounce can, with juices)
  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1/2 cup white wine (optional, sub 1/4 cup water)
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 3/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper
  • 23 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley

Bechamel Sauce:

  • 3 tablespoons butter or olive oil
  • 4 tablespoons flour
  • 2 cups milk (or plant-based milk)
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (use fresh grated if possible)
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon white pepper or finely ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, Pecorino or Kefalotiri Cheese (plus an additional 1/4 cup for the top-optional) or use vegan cheese.
  • 1 egg, room temp, lightly beaten (vegans can leave this out)

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400 F. Cut eggplant into ⅓- ¼ inch thick disks (no thinner), sprinkle with a little kosher salt and let sit in a colander or bowl for 20-60 minutes. Eggplant will start to release liquid (making it less bitter)
  2. Rinse well, pat dry and brush each side with olive oil (or use spray olive oil).
  3. Place on parchment lined baking sheet and roast in a 400 F oven until golden and teneder, about 20-30 minutes. Alternatively, you can grill the eggplant on each side (getting nice deep grill marks) then wrap for 10-15 minutes so it steams and cooks through.
  4. While eggplant is roasting -make the Tomato-Meat sauce: In a large pan, saute diced onion in oil on med-high heat for 3-4 minutes, add garlic, turn the heat down to med-low and saute for 8-10 minutes until onions are tender. Add the ground lamb (or beef or vegetarian meat), turn the heat up to medium and brown, stirring often, for about 15 minutes. Drain fat if any. Add the rest of the ingredients -diced tomatoes, tomato paste, white wine, fresh chopped parsley, sugar, cinnamon, kosher salt and pepper. Stir and cover and let simmer on med-low heat for 20 minutes. Taste, adjust salt to taste. You should have a rich, delicious, thick sauce. 
  5. Make Bechamel Sauce: In a small sauce pan, heat the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and let cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Whisk in the first cup of milk a little at a time. Whisk well, and add the 2nd cup. Stirring constantly, bring to a simmer, lower heat, and let simmer on low for an additional 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add nutmeg, cheese, salt, and pepper. Set aside to cool. Lightly beat an egg in a separate bowl, but do not add it just yet.
  6. Assemble: Divide eggplant slices into three stacks, reserving the best-looking & largest pieces for the top and bottom layers. The others can be placed in the middle layer, which will be concealed.
  7. In a greased 8x 13-inch baking dish, (or 11-12-inch round) place one layer of eggplant. Add half the meat sauce. Add another layer of eggplant and the remaining meat sauce. Add the third and final layer of eggplant. Take 3 tablespoons of the warm bechamel sauce, one tablespoon at a time, and whisk it into the beaten egg, to temper the egg (basically warm up the egg gradually so it doesn’t curdle), then pour this egg mixture into the bechamel sauce, whisking until nice and smooth. Spread the bechamel sauce over the final eggplant layer.
  8. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese (optional) and place in a 350F oven for 50-60 minutes, uncovered until beautifully golden. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Notes

  1. Make it ahead:  You can assemble this ahead and refrigerate for 2 days before baking. You can bake this ahead and reheat & serve with in 4 days. You can also freeze for 6 months after baking.
  2. Make in stages: An easy way to approach this is to make this in stages. For example, roast or grill the eggplant a couple of days ahead, make the tomato meat sauce the next day, make the béchamel the last day and assemble the day of baking.
  3. My personal preferences here are to grill the eggplant if possible and to use ground lamb (or a mix of beef and lamb). Soooo good!
  4. VEGAN: You can make this vegan by using plant-based meat or 4 cups of cooked lentils in the tomato sauce. In the bechamel, use olive oil, plant-based milk and vegan cheese, and skip the egg. This can be quite good Just make sure both the red sauce and white sauce are flavorful, tasting, and seasoning well (especially if using lentils). Adding a little miso paste to the red sauce can help add depth if needed. I also added some toasted walnuts to the red sauce for depth. 

Nutrition

  • Serving Size:
  • Calories: 564
  • Sugar: 12.6 g
  • Sodium: 411.8 mg
  • Fat: 40.7 g
  • Saturated Fat: 14.1 g
  • Carbohydrates: 23.5 g
  • Fiber: 6.6 g
  • Protein: 25.7 g
  • Cholesterol: 109.2 mg