Moussaka is a very popular dish in the Middle East of which Greece is part of. If you ever have the chance to dine in a Greek restaurant you'll undoubtedly find moussaka on the menu and I recommend you to try it. But you don't really have to go to a restaurant to try out this tasty dish – you can prepare it at home with ease. It consists mainly of minced meat, eggplant, and a tasty topping of cheese sauce. Here is how you cook a delicious Greek moussaka in no time.
For the meat sauce, you will need the following ingredients that you can find in any store: 500g (1 pound) of minced lamb or beef (the original recipe is with Lamb because that seems to be popular in Greece but I prefer this dish with beef); 1 well-chopped onion; 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil; 2-3 tablespoons of dry white wine; 425-450g of tomato paste; 1 tablespoon of well-chopped parsley; 2 teaspoons of well-chopped mint leaves; a half teaspoon of both ground white pepper and ground cinnamon;
For the cheese sauce, you will need: 90-100g of butter; 2 cups of milk; 1/3 cup of regular flour; 2 lightly beaten eggs and a cup of grated Romano cheese; You will also need 3 eggplants but before you start cooking I'll have to give you a little piece of advice – do not cook this fine meal in an oven that hasn't been cleaned in a while. According to expert oven cleaners in London, the build-up grease and debris on the inside walls of an oven can affect the taste of your meal. That is why before you start cooking you must make sure that your oven is thoroughly cleaned.
So here is how you cook moussaka. Slice the eggplants into 1 cm slices and sprinkle them with salt. Leave them on side because now you'll have to prepare the meat sauce. Heat up some olive oil in a pan. When the temperature is right add the beef and the chopped onion. Keep cooking them until they are well browned and don't forget to stir. Add the white wine, the tomato paste and all the seasoning. Bring the sauce to a boil and after that reduce the heat. Cover the pan for a while but occasionally stir. While the meat sauce is cooking you can prepare the cheese sauce. Heat the butter in a small pan and add the flour – use low heat and stir for two minutes. After that add the milk and keep stirring until it looks smooth. Stir over medium heat for a few minutes until the mixture gets thick. Remove the pan from the stove and add the cheese and eggs. Beat the mixture until it looks smooth and fluffy.
Cook the sliced eggplants in a pan until they look golden. Take a baking dish and arrange half of the eggplants inside. Cover them with half of the meat sauce. Add the remaining eggplants and cover with the rest of the meat sauce. Spread the cheese sauce over the top and put the baking dish in the preheated oven (180 degrees C/ 350 F). Bake for about 45 minutes or until the meal looks golden. When you take the moussaka out let it cool down for about 15 minutes – after that, you can serve and enjoy.
I am sure that you will like the taste of moussaka but I hope that you took the warning from the expert oven cleaners in London seriously. The whole effort would have been for nothing if you cooked this wonderful meal in a dirty oven.
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