Greek Mousaka recipe

Mousaka is a well-known greek dish, you need to try it once you come to Greece. Or you can do it all by yourself! Take a piece of paper, a pencil and you are almost ready! ho ho ho

This is the recipe for five to six person.

It will take you only one hour and thirty minutes to prepare it!

To make it you will need:

For the vegetables:

• two medium sized potatoes, cut into thin slices
• one medium sized onion, cut into small pieces
• one aubergine, cut into thin slices
• two medium sized zucchini, cut into thin slices
• one pinch of salt
• one pinch of thyme
• one pinch of black pepper
• olive oil for brushing and extra for the vegetables

For the minced meat mixture:

• olive oil for sauting
• one small chopped onion (minced)
• one chopped clove of garlic (minced)
• half a kilo of beef minced meat
• one pinch of salt
• one pinch of black pepper
• one pinch of sweet red pepper (paprica)
• half a tea spoon cinnamon
• one table spoon condensed tomatoes (tomato paste)
• one can of chopped tomatoes

For the Bechamel sauce:

• six table spoons of milk butter
• six table spoons of flour
• approximately 750 ml fresh milk
• one pinch of salt
• one pinch of nutmeg
• 100 gr grated parmesan (optional)

And so it begins!

We pre-heat the oven to 200 C.

For the vegetables:

• We take a large baking pan and we put a little bit of olive oil and we brush it just enough to create o thin layer of olive oil.
• We peel the potatoes and onion and cut them into thin slices.
• Then, we put them in a big bowl and drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and some thyme.
• Let them rest for two or three minutes and put them in a pan, until they soften and turn golden.
• After we spread them in a single layer on the bottom of the baking pan.
• We take the aubergine and cut it in really thin slices, we put the slices in a bowl and drizzle them with olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme.
• Then we bake it in the pan, until it gets soften. And we put it over the potatoes and onion in a single layer.
• Last but not least, we cut the zucchini into thin slices. Once again drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme and put them in the pan for one or two minutes.
• Then we place them over the aubergine, also in a single layer.

A view of the aubergines!

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For the minced meat mixture:

• Firstly, we put the chopped onions into a pan among with salt and one tea cup of water.
• Then, we add the chopped clove of garlic and the chopped onions and mix them until all the water is gone.
• Then, we drizzle with olive oil, drop the minced meat and we add the salt, the black pepper, paprica, the cinnamon and we mix them.
• Let them in the pan for six to eight minutes until all the meat is all cooked. We have to use a spoon to break it into small pieces.
• After this, we drop the tomato paste and the chopped tomatoes in the pan and leave them for another four to five minutes, until most of the liquid evaporates. The mixture has to be slight dry.

How the minched meat mixture should look like.

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For the Bechamel sauce:

• We place a small pot on medium heat, add the milk butter.
• When the milk butter starts to melt, we add the flour and start to mix. After that, start adding the milk in small doses. Don't forget to lower the heat!
• We mix continuously and when the milk is absorbed by the flour, pour more milk.
• We have to repeat this procedure until all the milk is gone. When the sauce starts to bubble, it's ready!
• Then, we add the salt, the black pepper and the nutmeg and the parmesan (which is optional but gives Bechamel a great taste! )

A view of the bechamel sauce!

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The final part!

• First, we take 1/3 of the Bechamel sauce and add it to the minced meat mixture.
• Then, we spread this new mixture over the vegetable layer in the baking pan.
• We pour the rest Bechamel sauce over the mixture layer and sprinkle with some parmesan.
• Then, we bake for twenty-five to thirty minutes, or until it gets golden on the top.
• After, we take it off the oven and let it cool a little bit.
• Finally, we cut in big pieces, serve aaaaaand... enjoy!

The final view of your delicious mousaka. Enjoy!

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