Alas wanderlust! I have always wanted to visit Greece, but sadly not been able to so far. I love sampling what passes off as Greek cuisine in ye olde Derbyshire. One of my absolute favourites is a hearty Moussaka. I have tasted a wide variety – and although I am a die hard meat lover – I once tasted the yummiest veg moussaka in Cornwall (organic veg, and amazing veggie mince!). Nothing beats a good lamb moussaka though.
I have studied a few different recipes and here is one which I have put together. Warning – this is not your bog standard traditional moussaka, expect some unHellenic combinations and heresy to follow.
With apologies to the Greek nation for murdering their beautiful dish – I have happily committed blasphemy by adding things like turmeric, chillies, capers, lemon zest, olives etc. A few flavours which I find soothing and pleasurable always find their way into my dishes.
Not certain what the well heeled genteel folk of Santorini might think, but the hooligans of Spondon have given their approval. Here is my rather unusual Moussaka recipe!
INGREDIENTS
2 Large baking potatoes – washed, peeled and thinly sliced
1 large onion rough chopped
Olive oil to drizzle (various stages)
Salt
Pepper
Thyme leaves – 1 bunch
1 large aubergine, washed and thinly sliced
1 courgette, washed and thinly sliced
Cloves ground 1 tsp
Cinnamon 1 tsp
Sugar 1 tsp
Sugar 1 tsp
Garlic 2 pearls – I used pickled garlic
Tinned tomatoes 1 tin (400 gms)
Mince lamb or beef 500 gms
2 green chillies chopped fine (optional – I wanted mine to have a kick)
4 or 5 pitted black and green olives chopped (I love olive everything…)
2 green chillies chopped fine (optional – I wanted mine to have a kick)
4 or 5 pitted black and green olives chopped (I love olive everything…)
4 or 5 capucine capers (optional – what can I say I am a heretic!!!)
Turmeric 1 tsp optional (not found in moussaka but I fancied some in mine, eating exotic food with chillies and turmeric three times a day is good for you)
Basil leaves a handful fine chopped (another blasphemy)
Zest of half a lemon (Greek gods have given up cursing me at this point)
Turmeric 1 tsp optional (not found in moussaka but I fancied some in mine, eating exotic food with chillies and turmeric three times a day is good for you)
Basil leaves a handful fine chopped (another blasphemy)
Zest of half a lemon (Greek gods have given up cursing me at this point)
75g butter
75g flour
600 ml or 1 pint of milk
600 ml or 1 pint of milk
50 g Parmesan
Mozarella (a handful)
3 eggs beaten
Oregano 1 tsp (why not go the whole hog with the herbs)
Basil to garnish (that's the whole herb garden…)
Basil to garnish (that's the whole herb garden…)
METHOD
For the base
1. Grease an oven dish (I use a dinky pastry brush) with olive oil and preheat your oven
2. Get a mixing bowl and mix the sliced baking potatoes, and half of the chopped onion – sprinkle salt and pepper to taste a handful of thyme and some olive oil – mix well
3. In the oven dish layer the potatoes/onions/spice mix from step 2 – and put into the oven at gas mark 6/ 200°C for 20 minutes
4. After 20 minutes remove the oven dish
5. Now ensure the base of the oven dish is covered well with the baked potatoes – and if you want you can take a few out away so your layer of potatoes at the bottom is not too thick – take the extra potatoes and put into another greased (spare) oven dish and cook simultaneously. The original oven dish will now start building up layers of more veg, meat, bechamel sauce etc. Once the other layers are added just before the bechamel goes in you can create another layer of potatoes on the top.
6. The next layer is aubergines – as before put it into the mixing bowl, sprinkle salt, pepper, thyme, olive oil – mix well – layer on top of potatoes in the original oven dish – cook for another 20 minutes
7. The next layer is courgettes – as before put it into the mixing bowl, sprinkle salt, pepper, thyme, olive oil – mix well – layer on top of aubergines in the original oven dish – cook for another 20 minutes
Once the courgettes are cooked switch the heat off leave it in the oven – next we need to prepare the meat – if you wanted you could cook the meat first and then start the base.
For the meat
8. Heat up some olive oil in a large pan and caramalise the rest of the onions, next add the garlic, ground cloves, cinnamon fry well , then add a heaped teaspoonful of chopped tomatoes – fry for another minute
9. Add the meat, mix and fry – add the rest of the tinned tomatoes into the mix, add the chillies, basil, turmeric, olives, and the capers, add salt and pepper, 1 tsp sugar – fry and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes or until all the liquid evaporates. Switch flame off. Sprinkle zest of half a lemon into the mix, and keep aside. Next we make the sauce.
For the sauce
You can have more than one version for the sauce
Version ONE
10. melt the butter in a non-stick pan, add the flour and cook over a medium heat for one minute to cook out the flour.
11. Pour in the milk a little at a time, bring to the boil, stirring, and leave to simmer very gently for 10 minutes, giving it a stir every now and then.
12. Stir in the parmesan cheese and some salt and pepper to taste. Add the oregano. Cool slightly and then beat in the eggs.
Version TWO
Same as version one but the parmesan is not added to the actual sauce – it is added afterwards as a topping instead. I did version two.
For the assembly
13. Take the oven dish out of the oven now – it should now have a layer of potatoes, covered with a layer of aubergines, covered with a layer of courgettes – all nicely baked
14. Sprinkle some parmesan on the layers or if you wanted a handful of mozzarella
15. Next we add the meat – if you want to make the moussaka really dense and easy to cut and serve, add about 1 and a half tbs of the sauce to the meat mix well – this will make the meat hold better. I did not bother.
16. Add the meat and cover the dish evenly
17. Remember those extra potatoes we put aside in another oven dish? Now we cover the meat with those potatoes – don't worry if some are a bit crispy – adds texture
18. Next we cover the dish with the sauce – and if you have done version two you add the parmesan at the end like a topping
19. If you want a topping with sauce version one then you can scatter some breadcrumbs over it
20. Moussaka is now ready to bake – put in the oven for atleast 40 mins. I put it back on gas mark 4/ 180°C – and I might leave it for an extra 10 mins. You can play with the heat to brown the topping if you wanted
Garnish with basil
You can eat the moussaka hot if you wanted with a salad – or cool. Leave it an hour to cool down.
Serve with a fresh seasonal salad – Mine is served with cucumber, edamame beans, mint leaves, splash of lime, red pepper
Enjoy!!!
Author's Bio:
Samragi Simki was born in India, spent her childhood in Nepal, spent a few years in Burma before travelling to England to pursue her studies. Since 2000 Samragi has lived exclusively in England. She lives in Derbyshire with a menagerie of pets. Her hobbies include botanical watercolours, craftwork, occasional misadventures in verse or prose, and attempting to cook a range of different cuisines. Samragi comes from a family of accomplished chefs, and took some formal cookery classes as a young student. Her father Anjan was famous for his many culinary triumphs and remains her favourite chef of all time. Samragi's cooking is always an attempt to recreate her favourite childhood memories.
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