Moussaka takes time, but mostly waiting time. The work is three layers and one sauce.
First things first: the white sauce is new
Moussaka with bechamel on top feels ancient, but it is not. Across the whole of the former Ottoman region the dish exists as layers of aubergine and meat, with no white sauce. The Greek version we know today was shaped in the twentieth century by Nikolaos Tselementes, a Greek chef trained in Vienna, who wanted to raise Greek food with French technique. The bechamel was his, and it caught on so thoroughly that most people think it was always there.
The other point is practical. Aubergine is a sponge of air pockets. Put the slices in a pan with oil and they soak up everything you pour in. Salt the slices for twenty minutes, squeeze out the liquid, and bake them in the oven with a thin brushing of oil. The air pockets then collapse, and the flavour is clean rather than heavy with oil.
Ingredients for one dish
- 3 large aubergines and 3 medium potatoes
- 600 g minced lamb, or half and half lamb and beef
- 1 onion, 3 cloves of garlic and olive oil
- 1 tin of whole tomatoes, 2 tbsp tomato purée and 100 ml red wine
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp oregano, 2 bay leaves
- Bechamel: 80 g butter, 80 g wheat flour, 800 ml milk, 1 grated nutmeg, 2 egg yolks and 80 g grated cheese
Method
- Cut the aubergine into one-centimetre slices. Salt them and leave them in a colander for twenty minutes. Pat them dry.
- Brush the slices with olive oil and bake them at 200 degrees for 25 minutes, until golden brown.
- Cut the potatoes into thin slices and bake them at the same time for about 20 minutes.
- Brown the mince in olive oil without stirring too much. The meat should take on colour, not boil in its own liquid. Add the onion and garlic.
- Stir in the tomato purée and cook it for a couple of minutes. Pour in the wine and reduce it. Add the tomatoes, cinnamon, oregano and bay, and simmer for 40 minutes until the sauce is thick and almost dry. If it stays loose, the moussaka will be loose.
- Melt the butter, stir in the flour and let it bubble for a minute. Add the milk gradually while whisking hard and cook for five minutes. Take the sauce off the heat and stir in the nutmeg, cheese and egg yolks.
- Lay the potatoes in the bottom of the dish, then aubergine, then the meat sauce, and a final layer of aubergine. Pour the bechamel over and smooth it out.
- Bake at 180 degrees for 45 minutes until the top is golden with darker patches.
- Let the dish rest for at least 30 minutes before you cut it. Hot moussaka falls apart.
Frequently asked questions
What are the ingredients in moussaka?
Aubergine, minced meat in a tomato sauce with cinnamon and oregano, often a layer of potatoes, and bechamel with cheese and egg on top.
Are there potatoes in moussaka?
Often, but not always. In Greece a base layer of potato slices is common, and it makes the dish easier to cut.
What kind of meat is used in moussaka?
Traditionally lamb. Beef is common, and a mixture is widespread. Lamb gives the clearest Greek character alongside the cinnamon.
What is the difference between moussaka and lasagne?
Both are layered bakes with meat sauce and white sauce, but lasagne uses pasta sheets where moussaka uses aubergine and potatoes. The spicing sets them apart too.
Where to find the ingredients
The meat sauce is built on tinned tomatoes, and a Greek olive oil marks the whole dish. Whole nutmeg from whole spices gives more than ready-grated, and the oregano and cinnamon are among the dried herbs and spices. The bechamel needs flour and grated cheese. See also gyros.
