Moussaka

Ingredients

Vegetables

• 1.5 kgaubergines, sliced lengthways 1 cm thick
• 500 gwaxy potatoes, peeled and sliced 5 mm thick
• 2 tbspfine salt, for degorging
• 200 mlolive oil, for frying

Meat sauce

• 700 glamb mince, or half lamb and half beef
• 2onions (about 250 g), finely diced
• 3garlic cloves, chopped
• 60 mlolive oil
• 2 tbsptomato purée
• 400 gpassata or tinned tomatoes, chopped
• 150 mldry red wine
• 1cinnamon stick
• ½ tspground allspice
• 2bay leaves
• 1 tspsugar
• Salt and black pepper

Bechamel

• 100 gbutter
• 100 gplain flour
• 1 litrewhole milk, warm
• ¼ tspgrated nutmeg
• 3egg yolks
• 100 gkefalotyri or graviera, finely grated

Directions

1. Salt the aubergine slices on both sides and stand them in a colander for 30–40 minutes, then rinse and press dry between cloths. This draws out bitterness and stops them drinking a litre of oil.
2. Fry the aubergines in batches in hot olive oil, 2 minutes a side, until golden and floppy, and drain them on a rack. Fry the potato slices in the same oil until just tender and lightly coloured.
3. For the sauce, brown the mince hard in olive oil in a wide pan, breaking it up, until the water has gone and the meat is truly browned rather than grey.
4. Add the onion and garlic and cook 8 minutes until soft, then stir in the tomato purée and fry 2 minutes.
5. Pour in the wine, let it bubble away, then add the tomatoes, cinnamon stick, allspice, bay, sugar, salt and pepper.
6. Simmer uncovered for 40–45 minutes until the sauce is thick, glossy and almost dry, with the oil separating at the edges. A wet meat sauce will soak the whole dish and it will collapse when cut.
7. For the bechamel, melt the butter, stir in the flour and cook 2 minutes without colouring, then whisk in the warm milk in stages. Cook 8–10 minutes until it is very thick and just falls from the spoon in a heavy ribbon.
8. Off the heat, beat in the nutmeg, most of the cheese, salt and finally the egg yolks, one at a time, working fast so they do not scramble.
9. Layer a 30 x 22 cm dish: potatoes on the base, half the aubergines, all the meat sauce, then the rest of the aubergines. Press down firmly with a spatula at each stage.
10. Spread the bechamel over the top in an even 2 cm blanket, scatter the last cheese over and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 45–50 minutes until deeply golden and set with a slight wobble.
11. Rest for at least 45 minutes before cutting. Straight from the oven it will slump on the plate; warm rather than hot is how it is actually served in Greece.

Technique

• The bechamel layer as we know it was introduced by Nikolaos Tselementes in the 1920s, drawing on French technique; older Greek and Ottoman versions of moussaka were simply layered aubergine and meat.
• Cinnamon and allspice are not optional decoration. Warm spice in the meat is what separates a Greek moussaka from a lasagne.
• Egg yolks in the bechamel are what set it firm enough to slice. Without them the top layer stays saucy and slides.
• For a lighter version, brush the aubergine with oil and roast at 220°C (425°F) for 20 minutes instead of frying; the texture is drier but the dish is far less heavy.

Substitutions

• No kefalotyri: use pecorino romano or a well-aged Greek graviera; parmesan works but is sweeter.
• No lamb: all beef is common in Athens tavernas, and gives a milder, less gamey dish.
• For a meat-free version, replace the mince with 400 g of brown lentils cooked with the same spices.

Variations

• Classic three-layer moussaka with potato, aubergine and bechamel.
• Aubergine-only moussaka, the leaner summer version.
• Cretan moussaka, made with courgette as well as aubergine.

History

Built from ingredients — aubergine, tomato, ground meat — that reached Greek and Ottoman kitchens only after the 1500s, since tomatoes and the layered-casserole format both arrived from outside the ancient Mediterranean world, so despite feeling like an old dish, moussaka’s specific layered form is comparatively recent. Its name comes from the Arabic musaqqa’a, meaning chilled or cooled, by way of Ottoman Turkish, and versions of the dish exist across the former Ottoman Empire under similar names. The now-standard Greek version, with a baked custard-like béchamel layer on top, is usually credited to chef Nikolaos Tselementes, who reworked the dish in the 1920s along more French, haute-cuisine lines, adding the béchamel that most people now consider essential to it.

Frequently asked questions

What is Moussaka?

Moussaka is a main from Greece: baked layers of aubergine, spiced lamb mince, béchamel. Built from ingredients — aubergine, tomato, ground meat — that reached Greek and Ottoman kitchens only after the 1500s, since tomatoes and the layered-casserole format both arrived from outside the ancient Mediterranean world, so despite feeling like an old dish, moussaka’s specific layered form is comparatively recent. Its name comes from the Arabic musaqqa’a, meaning chilled or cooled, by way of Ottoman Turkish, and versions of the dish exist across the former Ottoman Empire under similar names. The now-standard Greek version, with a baked custard-like béchamel layer on top, is usually credited to chef Nikolaos Tselementes, who reworked the dish in the 1920s along more French, haute-cuisine lines, adding the béchamel that most people now consider essential to it.

How long does Moussaka take to make?

Moussaka takes 1 hr of preparation and 1 hr 30 min, plus 45 min resting of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Moussaka?

Yes, within limits. No kefalotyri: use pecorino romano or a well-aged Greek graviera; parmesan works but is sweeter. No lamb: all beef is common in Athens tavernas, and gives a milder, less gamey dish. For a meat-free version, replace the mince with 400 g of brown lentils cooked with the same spices.

What is the most important thing to get right in Moussaka?

For the sauce, brown the mince hard in olive oil in a wide pan, breaking it up, until the water has gone and the meat is truly browned rather than grey.