Moussaka

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A labor of love, and the ultimate Greek comfort food. Serve on a raw, overcast spring day, and watch everyone’s mood brighten up.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients: Meat Sauce

½ large onion
1 clove garlic
Fresh flat-leaf parsley, enough for 1/3 cup chopped
Fresh mint, enough for 1 tablespoon chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 lb ground lamb
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup white wine
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ cup currants
¼ tsp ground cloves
14 oz can crushed tomatoes, preferably Hunt’s
½ tsp red wine vinegar

Ingredients: Potato

2 russet potatoes
Kosher salt
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Ingredients: Eggplant

1 eggplant
½ cup olive oil

Ingredients: Béchamel Sauce

½ tsp nutmeg
¾ cup grated hard Greek cheese (kefalotyri, kasseri, or graviera)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1¼ cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
½ cup yogurt

Instructions: Make the meat sauce

  1. Dice the onion. Peel and mince the garlic. Chop the parsley finely to obtain 1/3 cup. Chop the mint finely to obtain 1 tablespoon.
  2. Heat the olive oil and butter in a skillet over medium heat, until hot. Add the onion and sauté until soft.
  3. Turn heat to high. Add the lamb, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until meat is browned, and all the liquid has evaporated.
  4. Reduce heat to medium-high. Add the white wine, and simmer until almost completely evaporated.
  5. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add the garlic, bay leaf, tomato paste, cinnamon, currants and cloves. Cook for 5-7 minutes, until currants are plump and fragrant.
  6. Raise heat to medium. Add the tomatoes and vinegar. Simmer 15-20 minutes, until mixture is dry, light and a bit fluffy.
  7. Remove from heat and stir in parsley and mint. Discard bay leaf. Test for salt and pepper.

Instructions: Make the potato

  1. Peel the potatoes and cut into large chunks.
  2. Fill a saucepan with cold water, and salt with kosher salt. Add potatoes. Bring to a boil, and boil until potatoes are soft when pierced with a fork.
  3. Drain, and mash until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Instructions: Make the eggplant

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Peel the eggplant, and cut into ¼ inch slices.
  3. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and arrange the slices on it. Brush each one generously with the olive oil. There should be no dry-looking spots, and you should use all of the oil.
  4. Bake in the oven till soft, 15-18 minutes.

Instructions: Make the béchamel sauce

  1. Scald the milk in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and set aside.
  2. Melt the butter in another saucepan, over medium-low heat, until bubbling.
  3. Whisk the flour into the melted butter to make a roux. Toast the roux lightly, about 5 minutes, whisking frequently.
  4. Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle the milk into the roux.
  5. Remove from heat. Whisk in the yogurt, nutmeg and ½ cup of the cheese to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

Instructions: Assemble and bake

  1. Oil a medium baking dish, or 6-8 individual oven-proof crocks.
  2. Assemble in layers, as follows:
    • Spread 1/3 of the béchamel sauce over the bottom
    • Arrange half the eggplant slices
    • Spread half the meat sauce
    • Spread another 1/3 of the béchamel sauce
    • Spread all of the mashed potato
    • Arrange rest of the eggplant slices
    • Spread rest of the meat sauce
    • Spread rest of the béchamel
    • Sprinkle over the remaining ¼ cup of grated cheese
  3. Bake until bubbly, and golden brown on top. About 1 hour for a baking dish, 30-45 minutes for individual crocks.

My husband says: the inclusion of yogurt and currants skew this recipe dangerously toward Turkish territory. Just don’t show it to any real Greeks.