Traditional Greek Moussaka Recipe
Moussaka is a classic Greek Casserole layered with potatoes, eggplant, ground beef or lamb topped with a creamy bechamel sauce that is the ultimate Greek comfort food!
Ingredients
For the Eggplant
- 2 large eggplants, sliced 1/2 in. thick
- 2 tsp salt
- olive oil for brushing
Potatoes
- 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/2 in. thick
For the Meat Mixture
- 1.5 lbs ground beef or lamb
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 15 oz. crushed tomatoes
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Bechamel Sauce
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 cup flour, unbleached all-purpose
- 4 cups milk, lukewarm
- 3 egg yolks
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese or 1 cup/divided if not using ricotta
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
Instructions
Eggplant
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Peel and slice the eggplant. Place the eggplant slices in a colander and salt them liberally. Cover them with an inverted plate and weigh down the plate with a heavy can or jar. Place the colander in the sink and let the eggplants bleed for 1 hour—15 to 20 minutes minimum.
- Rinse the salt off of the eggplant slices and pat them dry with a clean dish towel.Place them on a greased baking sheet and brush with olive oil. Bake for 30 minutes. Turn heat down to 350 degrees F.
Meat Mixture
- While the eggplant are sweating, make your meat mixture.In a Dutch oven or large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Brown the meat. Add in onion and garlic until onions are translucent 5-7 minutes.
- Add the wine and scrape up any bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add the tomato paste, diced tomatoes, cinnamon, bay leaf, parsley. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer the mixture, covered, for 25 minutes.
- Uncover and cook on medium heat for 5-10 minutes until all the moisture has been absorbed from the meat mixture, remove it from the heat. Add the salt and pepper. Taste, and adjust the salt and pepper as necessary. Remove the bay leaf/cinnamon stick and set the meat mixture aside.
Potatoes
- Peel and slice the potatoes 1/2 inch. thick and boil for about 5 minutes until tender. Immediately drain and rinse with cold water to prevent further cooking. Set aside.
Bechamel Sauce
- Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, whisking constantly, until pale and smooth, 2 minutes.
- Turn the heat down low. Still whisking constantly, add the milk little at a time and cook until thickened about 10 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg Let the sauce cool for 5 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, 1/2 ricotta if using, or parmesan cheese, and whisk into the bechamel sauce until smooth. Set aside.
Assemble and Bake
- Butter a 9x11 baking dish. Layer with potatoes followed by 1 layer of eggplant followed by meat mixture and repeat with another layer of eggplant topped with bechamel sauce. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 35 to 40 minutes until crust is golden brown.
Notes
- Greek Moussaka can be made 1 day ahead of time by refrigerating before baking and let it stand at room temperature for an hour prior to baking.
- Replace eggplant with zucchini and skip the preparation of salting it and letting it sit and just roast accordingly.
- Can use a mixture of ground beef and lamb.
- Trick to bechamel sauce is to use lukewarm milk to avoid clumps.