Recipe by Lilly, inspired by a recipe found on BBC
Lilly offered to cook dinner the other night, and thinking of everything that was in the share last week, I asked if she was game for trying out a Moussaka. She was, she did and it was AMAZING! I had thirds, almost went for a fourth serving, Cameron did have four servings, and by the end of the meal there was very little left over. All of us wanted the leftovers for lunch the next day. I am definitely making this again very soon, it was that good. Traditionally Moussaka is made with ground lamb and includes potatoes. I am not the biggest fan of lamb, plus we have access to amazing pork, so she made it with ground pork, and we served steamed potatoes on the side. Typically this dish uses more eggplant, so if you have one leftover from last week you can use two. If you want more veg in it, fry up some of the summer squash. When Lilly made her version there wasn’t enough to do multiple layers, so she did one layer of meat, one of eggplant, another layer using the rest of the meat, then topped it with the sauce.
1 Eggplant, cut into 1/2” slices
1 TB fine Sea Salt
1 lb Ground Pork, you can use Lamb which is how this is traditionally made
1 Onion, finely chopped
3 Garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
2-3 sprigs fresh Mint
2 Bay Leaves
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 TB All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Sea Salt, plus extra for seasoning
7 oz Red Wine
1 lb chopped Red Slicer Tomatoes
7 TB Olive Oil
Sea Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
Place the eggplant pieces in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Set aside for 10 minutes. Put the ground pork, onions, garlic, Italian Seasoning, mint, bay leaves and cinnamon in a large heavy-based frying pan and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up the meat. Stir in the flour, salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Add the wine, tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Getting back to the eggplant, rinse the pieces under cold running water and pat dry. Heat three TB of the oil in a skillet and fry the eggplant pieces for 2 to 3 minutes on each side on medium high heat. Add more oil when you need to. Drain the eggplant on paper towels. Preheat the oven to350 F.
For the White Sauce
4 TB Butter
4 TB All-Purpose Flour
14 oz Milk
1 tsp grated Nutmeg
1 oz grated Parmesan
1 Egg, beaten
Melt the butter in a saucepan, then stir in the flour. Cook for a few second then slowly whisk in the milk. Add half of the parmesan and the grated nutmeg. Simmer the sauce on gently for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove the sauce from the heat then whisk in the egg. Spread out half of the meat sauce in the bottom of the baking dish. Next is the eggplant, then the rest of the meat sauce. Cover with the white sauce, spreading it around to make sure it is all covered. Top with the rest of the parmesan cheese and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes or until bubbling anddeep golden brown.
Serve.