Category: Other
- Oil for frying eggplant and potato and 1tbsp for cooking meat mixture.
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 diced tomatoes (14.5oz or a can of diced tomatoes)
- Crushed red pepper to taste
- 2 1/2 tbsp of Creme Delish
- 2 to 2.5 oz Pecorino romano cheese
Remove stalks from eggplants, peel them and cut into slices, 1 cm thick. Season with salt & place in a colander or plate for about 30 min. Pat dry with paper towel. Slice potato into 0.5cm, half a finger with slices. Cook both eggplant and potato on both sides until a good color. Set aside when done.
Heat a large pan to medium-high heat and add 1 tbls olive oil. Stir in the chopped onions & sauté, until softened & colored. Stir in the ground meat breaking it up and sauté. When it starts to brown, add garlic and tomato paste. Sauté until the garlic starts to soften and the pan starts to get color. Pour in the red wine (to deglaze pan) and stir. Add tomatoes, Creme Delish, bay leaf and salt & pepper to taste. Bring to the boil then turn the heat down and simmer with the lid on for about 30 min. or until most of the juices have evaporated.
Use a large pan to melt butter over low-medium heat. Add flour whisking continuously to make a paste. Add milk in a steady stream; keep whisking in order to prevent your sauce from getting lumpy. If the sauce still needs to thicken, boil over low heat while continuing to stir. Its consistency should resemble a thick cream. Add most of the cheese cut into small pieces or grated. Reserve some cheese to sprinkle on top!
Remove béchamel from heat; stir in egg yolks, pinch of nutmeg, salt & pepper to taste. Whisk quickly, in order to prevent the eggs from turning an omelette!
Now its time to assemble the moussaka. For this moussaka recipe you will need a 8x8 baking dish. Grease the bottom & sides of the pan. Layer the potatoes first (if you’re using them), then a layer of meat sauce; a layer of eggplants; a layer of meat sauce; continue with eggplant and meat layers with top layer as eggplant. Now top with béchamel sauce.
Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Preheat your oven at 180C/350F and bake for about hour or until top desired golden color. Let cool for 10 min. or until cool to the touch before cutting pieces.