Even my mum is now following internet recipes for things that she has been doing for years ! Here is the link :http://www.lacuisinedebernard.com/2013/07/la-moussaka-grecque.html
Obviously there is a few small secrets…
She uses half-cooked potatoes as the first base layer for the Moussaka. On this particular occasion, we did 2, one with and one without the potatoes. The outcome is that it is definitely nicer with the layer of potatoes. You can see in picture 3 the layers, don’t be fooled by picture 1.
It is my understanding that the Moussaka with Potatoes is a Greek recipe whereas the one without is more Turkish.
UPDATE : (Original was 11th of August 2015, then spetember 2020 !)
I have just tried to make this recipe and clearly my mum was not following that recipe at all…
Well, I am going to do the same and make my own version and see if it is any good. I am starting with a version without potatoes. It is a bit of work but it is well worth it!
Ingredients:
- 1kg of minced lamb.
- 2 Large or 3 small aubergines.
- 1kg of Red Potatoes (a waxy potato)
- 2 onions / 2 or 3 cloves of garlic.
- Tomatoes concentrate. (a small round pot thingy)
- A supermarket basket of large tomatoes (or 2X400g cans of tin tomatoes)
- Olive Oil / Butter / Salt / Pepper / Whole Nutmeg / Piment de l’espelette
- A large tray to go in the oven
- For the sauce Blanche : 0.8 to 1 Litre of milk / 100g flour / 1eggs / 50g butter / nutmeg / salt /pepper.
How to Make:
- I find that my “Le Creuset” pot is the best to cook this kind of dishes.
- I then assemble the ingredients in a large clay roasting tray to go in the oven
- Dice the onions and cook in the pot with a bit of butter, salt and pepper.
- Let them melt a bit and take some colour. Cook on medium not too harsh.
- During this time boil some water and put all the tomatoes in the boiling water for a couple of minutes. This will help to peel them easily.
- Cut the tomatoes in slices and remove all the wet bits, seeds, centre etc.
- Once the onions are cooked, transfer into a tray waiting for assembly.
- Wash and slice the aubergines through their short side to make round slices of various sizes.
- Cook them on medium heat in a bit of olive oil to give them colour and taste. This is a fairly long process that requires you to monitor the burning so that it is tasty but not burnt…my mum method is to use a roasting tray in the oven. After many attempts, the roasting of the Aubergines is best done in the oven under a grill rather than done in the le creuset pot. Use aluminium foil and a drizzle of olive oil.
- Transfer half of the aubergines to the bottom of the cooking tray and then layer on top the tomatoes.
- Still in the same pot, cook the lamb on high with the crushed garlic, season with salt and pepper and grate half of a nutmeg. Add also a bit of Piment de l’Espelette or equivalent (sweet chilli peppers powder).
- Add the tomatoes concentrate to the meat and let the water evaporate as much as possible. The meat will take a bit of colour and the oils will separate.
- Transfer the meat onto the cooking tray making sure you drain the fat.
- Once all the meat is layered over the aubergines and tomatoes finish with the second half of aubergines to top the whole thing. (Aubergines/Tomatoes/Meat/Aubergines)
- Make one litre of sauce Blanche (this is not my usual Bechamel Sauce...and has eggs in it…not sure about this….:
- In a 1.5L pot, melt the butter and mix the flour with a whisk, adding a bit of milk to make sure you do not make lumps.
- Once you have a sort of paste, add the rest of the milk slowly to get a thick creamy liquid.
- Take off the heat. whisk an egg with a bit of milk and then add to the mixture whisking everything well.
- Pour the sauce Blanche on the whole preparation
- Cook in the oven a 180 degrees celsius for 20 to 30 minutes.
This was very nice and the white sauce was great as well. All very moist and tasty.
Might have noticed the disaster of the burning of the le creuset pan….I tried everything to clean it and it was not coming off at all….been a complete mystery on how to take the stuff out and clean it properly. I bought at least 4 different products on amazon etc…baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, le creuset own brand cleaning product, boiling vinegar, magic sponge, overnight soak with dishwasher soap, boiling baking soda, etc…etc….etc…
I finally decide to simply put the pot into my oven during a full cycle of pyrolytic wash….was a bit afraid of destroying the whole thing but NO !! it worked brilliantly.
Simply had to wipe the ashes of the burned off stuff afterwards it was almost new.
Will now use this method on a yearly basis or something like that.
