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...

A Greek tragedy in three parts: #1 feta parcels or tiropitakia

*Spoiler alert* The only tragedy in this three parter is that there weren't any leftovers; in fact, each course was even better than the last, so keep your eyes peeled for dessert! If you follow me on Instagram, you'll have seen a sneak preview with one of my best ever food stylist-worthy shots, petals and all.

The Greek theme was an attempt to ignore this week's arctic blast by indulging in a feast to remind us of hot sunshine, summer holidays and maybe a sip of ouzo... It was also inspired by another donation from a local Barbican resident: The Home Book of Greek Cookery first published in 1963. This rather funky paperback edition was printed in 1976: 

Greek food is ideal for entertaining and many of the recipes in the book are for 8-10 people; we invited two. Everything on the menu can be made ahead, except for these little cheese parcels, or tiropitakia, which take minutes to prepare and are best eaten hot from the oven. So once these are done, you can sit back, relax and enjoy the ouzo stories (everybody has an ouzo story...).

Ingredients 

(Makes 8 parcels)

125g feta cheese

1 egg

1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 sheets ready made filo pastry

A large knob of butter, melted 

Method

1. Mash together the cheese, egg, herbs and pepper until well mixed

2. Cut the pastry sheets into four pieces: in half lengthways then in half widthways. Add a heaped teaspoon of filling to the top of a strip, about 2cm from the edge, then fold over the top left corner to meet the right edge forming a triangle (see pics below). Keep folding over, brushing the edge with melted butter to seal in the filling, until you reach the end of the sheet. Repeat for the remaining pastry and filling to make 8 parcels. 

3. Brush the parcels with melted butter and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 180C for 15 minutes until crisp and golden.

Serve warm from the oven with some Greek yoghurt pepped up with some lemon juice and more fresh herbs, alongside some stuffed vine leaves, olives and other Greek paraphernalia.

To vary the filling, you can mix spinach and spring onions with the feta (spanakopitakia) or make a meat filled version with minced lamb, passata and onion (kreatopitakia).

Tune in next time for the second act: a cheesy baked moussaka.