Moussaka - yum! (Lamb Recipes)

Member Name: dougal868

Product:	Lamb Recipes
Date:	20/10/08 (169 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very tasty - good winter food!

Disadvantages: Maybe not the most authentic recipe!

This is a recipe for lamb moussaka that I kind of made up! I'm terrible for just making my own recipes rather than looking in books so this was done based on what I thought I'd eaten in a restaurant once! It tastes very similar to the one in the restaurant but I have no idea if it's authentic or not! It is yummy though!!

Ingredients:
500g minced lamb
1 x medium sized onion
1 x 400g tin of tomatoes
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
Tomato puree - a good squeeze!
Olive oil
1-2 teaspoons of cinnamon or nutmeg
1 x large aubergine
300ml milk (full fat is best but semi skimmed is fine)
15g plain flour (or cornflour)
25g butter/margarine
a little grated cheese

Method:
Heat a little oil in a pan and add the lamb mince, onions and garlic. Allow this to brown then add a good squeeze of the tomato puree and the cinnamon or nutmeg. Stir well then add the tin of tomatoes. Bring the temperature up and allow to simmer.

While the mince continues to bubble you can start the aubergine. Thinly slice the aubergine and lightly brush each side of each slice with a little olive oil. You then need to fry each slice and put them to one side on some kitchen towel or a clean dishtowel to remove any excess oil.

You then need to make a basic white sauce - melt the butter in a pan then remove from the heat. Blend in the flour then gradually add the milk and whisk like mad! Return to the heat and stir as it starts to thicken.

You can then start to assemble the moussaka. You will need a fairly large ovenproof dish. I have a nice rectangular one which I usually use - it's around 25cm x 15cm which lets me do two good layers - mince, aubergine, mince aubergine then the white sauce on top. You can then add some grated cheese and a little dusting of the cinnamon/nutmeg if you like. Then put it in the oven at around 200 degrees for approximately 20-30 minutes (until it starts to turn nice and brown and the cheese bubbles).

Serving suggestions:
The moussaka itself is quite filling but if you are particularly hungry it's really nice with some boiled rice. Also yummy with some green veg - love asparagus or mange tout.

Extra note:
Some people salt the aubergine before cooking it but personally I don't. If it's quite fresh there really isn't any reason to do this. However, if you do want to salt it just slice the aubergine then layer it in a colander with a little salt added to each layer and allow it to sit for maybe 15 minutes or so then pat it dry with some kitchen towel to remove the salt and moisture. If you do decide to do this it's a good idea to do the salting before you do anything else, that way you can get on with the mine and white sauce while it's left to sit so you're not wasting any time!

Summary: Warm, filling and very tasty!