Greek tragedy act two: a meaty moussaka

As Felicity Cloake points out in her Perfect Moussaka article, this is one of those dishes that simultaneously manages to taste of sunshine and boast warming qualities sufficient to see you through a spring shower. Or arctic blast in our case. At the risk of inviting outrage, to me a moussaka is basically a greek lasagne, with aubergine instead of pasta. Which makes it a health food, right?

I used the same recipe book for the whole Greek feast menu / tragedy: The Home Book of Greek Cookery. For the moussaka, Joyce uses minced veal whereas I had always associated the dish with lamb. I'm relieved to report that Felicity thought the same, and although apparently veal is the more traditional ingredient (and my local Waitrose had minced veal but not minced lamb so I had to go to M&S #middleclasscommentoftheday) I stuck with lamb as I prefer the flavour with the cinnamon and nutmeg spices. And it's what Felicity did and she's much better at this than me...

The wobbly white sauce that tops the moussaka is a classic béchamel enriched with egg and flavoured with some parmesan and a bit more nutmeg. For some reason, my sauce went a bit lumpy, but it doesn't matter for the final dish. You could also use ricotta if you can't be doing with making the sauce from scratch.

The whole dish does take some time to prepare, perfect for a miserable afternoon, but can be made ahead and baked while your guests are devouring feta parcels and / recounting ouzo stories...

Ingredients
(Serves 4 - 6)

3 aubergines

1 onion, finely chopped
500g minced lamb
1 glass red wine
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes or passata
1 tsp ground cinnamon
A grating of nutmeg
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

For the béchamel sauce:

50g butter

50g plain flour

500ml milk
2 eggs
1 tbsp grated parmesan
A grating of nutmeg

Method

1. Slice the aubergines, sprinkle liberally with salt and drain in a colander for at least half an hour - this removes the bitterness from the vegetable.

2. While the aubergines are draining, make the béchamel sauce. Melt the butter then add the flour and cook for one minute. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly, and continue to heat gently and stir until the sauce thickens. Add a grating of nutmeg and the cheese and keep warm.

3. To make the sauce, sauté the onion in olive oil until soft then add the mince and brown. Add the red wine and, when that's sizzled away, add the chopped tomatoes or passata, the herbs and spices. Taste and season, then cook on a low heat for about 20 minutes. Add in a couple of spoonfuls of the béchamel sauce and turn off the heat.

 4. Rinse the aubergine slices, pat dry on kitchen towel the griddle in batches using a little olive oil.

5. Assemble the moussaka by starting with a layer of aubergine then a layer of mince and a sprinkle of parmesan. I had 20 slices of aubergine so I used 5 slices in 4 layers. Finish with an aubergine layer.

 6. Add the beaten eggs to the warm béchamel sauce, mix thoroughly then add the sauce to the top of the moussaka. Sprinkle with parmesan, and breadcrumbs if you like a crunchy topping, then bake at 180C for 30-40 minutes until golden brown on top.

Serve with simple green beans or a lightly dressed salad. And don't expect to have any leftovers... 

Room for dessert? The final part (clue: also has a 'k' in its name) coming soon...