A simple recipe for Musaca in Greek with eggplant

Musaka - a prominent representative of traditional Greek cuisine. This is, in fact, a layered vegetable casserole with roasted minced meat, poured with creamy cheese sauce. Because of its similarity with the famous Italian masterpiece, the moussaka is also called "vegetable lasagne".One of its famous variations is Moussaka in Greek with eggplants. The recipe is proposed to be used for both festive and everyday tables. Moussaka is a very satisfying and beautiful dish. At the same time, it is very high-calorie and far from dietary: you can feed it to a large company or serve on the table as a full-fledged family dinner. Moussaka does not need to prepare an additional side dish due to the presence of a variety of vegetables that make it also useful. Especially this dish is suitable for those who willingly include eggplants in their diet. Indeed, in this dish they are especially tender, juicy and fragrant.

Moussaka with eggplants

For cooking, you will need the following:

• 4 eggplants( about 700 g);
• 500 g ground beef;
• 2 bulb bulbs;
• 4-5 tomatoes( about 300 g);
• 75 grams of hard cheese;
• 150 ml dry white wine;
• 50 ml of vegetable oil, better than olive oil.

In the classic Greek recipe for Musaki with eggplants, ground beef or beef is used to make ground beef. In extreme cases, you can mix beef with pork in a 1: 1 ratio.

To prepare the sauce will need:

• 400 ml of milk;
• 150 grams of hard cheese;
• 2 tbsp.lflour;
• 2 eggs;
• 75 g butter;
• pinch of grated nutmeg.

Preparation of products:

1. Grind meat for mince.
2. Peel the onion.
3. If eggplants taste bitter, cut them into plates or rings and put them in salted water( 1 tablespoon of salt per 1 liter of liquid) to get rid of unpleasant taste. After 15-20 minutes, get and dry them with a paper towel.
4. Make cross-shaped cuts on tomatoes, pour boiling water on it and immediately drop it into cold water - so the skin can be easily separated from the pulp. Peel them and cut into circles.

Preparing the sauce:

1. In a heated saucepan, melt the butter.
2. Add flour to the butter and fry it, stirring constantly, until slightly golden, carefully breaking the lumps.
3. Pour in a little warm milk. Continuing to stir constantly, bring the mass to a homogeneous consistency and thickening( the sauce should have a density of liquid sour cream).Remove from heat.
4. Beat the eggs a little with a fork and gently insert them into the sauce, trying to make it quickly so that they do not have time to coag with temperature.
5. Grate the cheese on a fine grater. Stir it into the egg-milk mixture while it is warm to melt it. Season the mixture with nutmeg, salt to taste and mix well.

Greek moussaka with eggplants

Cooking process of the salami:

1. Fry the eggplant slices in a well-heated frying pan with vegetable oil until half cooked, half a minute on each side.

1. Cut onion into half rings, fry it to a translucent appearance and add minced meat to it. Fry the minced meat with onions for 5-7 minutes, season with your favorite herbs and pour in the wine. Stew until liquid evaporates. Salt to taste.

1. In a separate frying pan, slightly add tomatoes, so that they release excess liquid, which will interfere with the baking of the musaki.

1. Place a portion of the roasted eggplants in the baking dish so that they tightly cover the bottom.

1. Lay eggplants on top of the eggplants and evenly distribute ground beef.
2. The next layer is laid out circles of tomatoes.

1. All layers are repeated again starting with eggplants.
2. Pour the formed casserole evenly with creamy sauce and sprinkle with grated cheese on top.

For baking, it is better to use a form with high sides, so that when pouring sauce into a dish, it does not overflow.

Moussaka is baked at a temperature of 200 degrees. Cooking time ranges from 30 to 45 minutes - it all depends on how quickly the liquid is boiled away. Therefore, the process should be controlled independently. Dishes should be cooked, but not burned.

Ready moussaka is an aromatic casserole with a golden cheese crust. Before serving, she should be allowed to brew and “rest” for about 15 minutes so that she is soaked with juices of all ingredients. On the table, Mouzaka is more effective to present directly on the baking sheet or in the baking dish, and to divide portions directly in front of the participants of the meal.

Many chefs argue about whether it is worthwhile to use Greek in the eggplant salad in the Musachi recipe? It is, rather, an individual decision that everyone makes in accordance with his taste preferences. Potatoes do not spoil the overall impression of the dish, but only emphasize its taste and give an extraordinary flavor.

Before adding potatoes to moussaka, it should be cut into small slices( slices), lightly fried in a pan and put into a baking dish in the first layer, then minced, eggplant, and then follow the basic recipe.

casserole In contrast to the basic recipe, moussaka with potatoes and eggplants should be baked a little longer. Do not forget that the potato is used in the floor ready state and it also needs time for a full preparation.

In order for the finished dish to turn out to be less fatty and high-calorie, the ingredients should not be fried, but baked for 15 minutes on a baking sheet, poured with parchment paper, without butter. Another way to get rid of excess oil is to put fried vegetables for 5 minutes on a paper towel and let the fat soak.

The varieties of musaka are vast. In almost every country, there is a similar flaky dish using baked vegetables, various sauces and additional ingredients, such as mushrooms, bell peppers, zucchini, nuts and even exotic seafood.

Moussaka is a real find for improvisations and culinary experiments. It is necessary to cook it once and it will take one of the first places in the list of favorite family and solemn dishes.

Video-recipe for making Musaca with eggplant, potatoes and zucchini