The Real Greek Moussaka

Ingredients

4 servings

• aubergine
• pomme de terre
• boeuf haché
• tomate
• oignon
• huile d'olive
• beurre
• cannelle
• miel
• muscade
• poivre
• sel
• beurre
• farine
• lait

Steps

1. 1

   Prepare the tomato sauce. Finely chop the onions and sauté them in a small saucepan until golden.

2. 2

   Add the roughly diced tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, cinnamon, honey, salt, and pepper. Let it reduce for 25 minutes (or longer, until you start preparing the meat) over medium heat. You should get a sauce, which you can smooth out with ready-made tomato purée if needed.

3. 3

   Prepare the eggplants. Slice the eggplants into rounds (do not peel them), salt them generously, and let them sweat while you move to the next step. Tip for sweating eggplants: in a dish, alternate a layer of salted eggplant slices with a layer of paper towels, or leave them in a colander.

4. 4

   Prepare the potatoes. Peel and slice the potatoes into thin rounds.

5. 5

   Arrange the potato slices at the bottom of a deep, oiled baking dish. Drizzle the potatoes with a little (3 tablespoons) of the juice from the simmering tomatoes.

6. 6

   Place the potato dish under the broiler for 5 to 15 minutes, depending on your oven, so they turn golden.

7. 7

   Now that they have sweated, sear the eggplant slices in a pan over high heat to brown them slightly on each side, then set aside.

8. 8

   Prepare the meat. In a Dutch oven, brown the ground beef in butter over high heat, season with salt and pepper, and drain any liquid released by the meat.

9. 9

   Add the tomato-onion sauce and lower the heat to very low.

10. 10

    Remove the potato dish from the oven and preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).

11. 11

    Prepare the béchamel sauce. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the 20g of butter, add the flour, and stir until you have a smooth paste.

12. 12

    Gradually incorporate the milk while stirring constantly; this can take a good 10 minutes until you get a fairly thick sauce.

13. 13

    Season with salt, pepper, and grate in a little nutmeg (it is strong, so use sparingly).

14. 14

    Assemble the moussaka. Over the layer of potatoes, spread half of the meat and tomato mixture, then half of the eggplants, then the rest of the meat, then the rest of the eggplants, a drizzle of olive oil, and finish with the béchamel.

15. 15

    Place everything in the oven at 200°C (400°F) and bake for 1 hour (the béchamel should be crispy and golden).