Moussaka is a dish from Greece- it is essentially a low carb lasagne, replacing the pasta with griddled aubergines. I used lamb mince as the basis of this dish, however feel free to use soya mince for a healthier option/ if you’re veggie. I usually serve this with hasselback potatoes and a greek salad.
Ingredients: (serves 6)
-1kg lamb mince (I used low fat 10% mince)
-2 tbsp olive oil
– 1 white onion, finely chopped
-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
-2 x 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
-200ml of red wine
-2 tbsp ketchup
-1.5 tbsp paprika
-1 tbsp cinnamon powder
-1 tsp chilli powder
-2 tbsp mixed herbs eg. Dried oregano
– 2 stock cubes
– 3 aubergines
-40g cheddar cheese, grated
-40g parmesan, grated
For the white sauce:
-75g butter
-75g plain flour
-600ml milk
-40g cheddar cheese, grated
– half a nutmeg, grated
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius.
1) Add 2 tbsp oil to a large pan.
2) Add the minced lamb to the pan.
3) Break up the lamb.
4) Cook on a high heat, for about 5-8 minutes, until all of the meat is brown.
5) The meat will now be covered in a lot of fat, so put the meat in a colander over the sink to drain off the fat. Leave this here for now.
6) Add 2 tbsp oil to the pan which the meat was in. You do not need to wash this pan in between.
7) Fry the onions and garlic in the pan for a few minutes, until soft.
8) Return the meat to the pan and mix together with the onions.
9) Add the tins of tomatoes. Fill one of the empty tins with water, and add this to the pan as well. Mix together.
10) Add the red wine to the pan.
11) Add the ketchup, paprika, cinnamon powder, chilli powder, mixed herbs, stock cubes and some salt and pepper to the mixture.
12) Mix this all together, and leave on a low simmer whilst you make the rest of the moussaka.
13) Cut the aubergines into long slices, along their length. Try to make the slices as thin as possible. This way they will cook more easily.
14) Fill a shallow dish with some oil and dip each of the aubergine slices, on both their sides, into the oil. Make sure that both sides are covered well in the oil.
15) Heat up a griddle pan (with no oil), until smoking. If you do not have one, you can either cook the aubergine slices under the grill or in a normal pan (this will take longer to cook though). Sometimes, I use a BBQ as this is the quickest.
16) Add the aubergine slices onto the griddle pan for a few minutes until chargrilled on one side. Then flip the aubergine slices over.
17) Cook the aubergine on this side. Make sure that the whole aubergine slice is soft and cooked. Repeat this with all the slices.
18) To make the white sauce, melt the butter in a deep saucepan.
19) Once melted, add the flour and whisk very fast, or you will get lumps in your sauce. Stop when the butter and flour are stuck together, in a ball.
20) Now you need to add the milk to the pan. Add the milk bit by bit, whisking very fast after each bit.
21) Add the nutmeg, some salt and pepper and cheese to the pan, and cook further until a thicker sauce.
22) Finally to ensemble the moussaka. Add half of grilled aubergines to a deep baking tray.
22) Then add half of the meat mixture on top.
23) Then add half of the white sauce on top.
24) Repeat this process, adding the other half of the aubergines, then other half of the meat mixture, and finally the other half of the white sauce. Top with the cheddar and parmesan cheeses.
25) Bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted and the top is crispy.
