“You’ll pay for this when I can cook it better?”
You should have seen the look the lady behind the counter awarded me.
I did keep it down after that: what I said was unforgivably rude.
It was also true.
This happened twenty four year ago and I was in a small local restaurant with my friend Alison. She was ordering moussaka.
As good as my word, I invited Alison for dinner and cooked moussaka for her. And you know what? She’s known ever since that I cook one of the best moussakas in the realm.
I cook the moussaka my grand-mother and my mother cooked; mine is probably not good as theirs but it’ll have to do. Today I share this family treasure with you!
There are millions of recipes for moussaka on the internet; I just checked out some of them. These can be over-done – they are stock full of butter, cheese and spices – and they always have aubergine in them.
In fact, moussaka is the Eastern way to cook meat and potato. Like paella, it is fundamentally peasant food. It is the equivalent of cottage pie (still, it tastes so different).
Aubergine is what Greeks put in moussaka. I suspect, it is because this is what peasants have in their gardens and it also means using less meat.
In Bulgaria we don’t use aubergine in moussaka; we keep it simple and elegant.
So here is what you need.
Ingredients
- 500 g minced beef (or a mixture of beef and pork mince)
- 4 -5 largish potatoes
- 250 ml passata (or a tin of cubed tomatoes)
- 2 eggs
- 5 tbsps yogurt
- 1 tbsp flour
- Oregano, salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
- Place the minced meat in a pan on moderate heat. Fry it until it is separated and brown (to separate the mince you’ll need to stir it continuously). Season with salt, oregano and pepper to taste.
- Move the fried mincemeat in a deep tray.
- Add the peeled and cubed potatoes (about 1cm cubes) and enough boiling water to cover the potatoes.
- Place the tray in a pre-heated over (180-200 C).
- When the dish has been in the oven for about 30 minutes, take it out and add the tomato passata. Stir and place back in the oven.
- In a bowl, beat the two eggs, add the yogurt and the flour (stir the mixture continuously). For this one I use a hand-held mixer – this not only speed the preparation but also makes the mixture really smooth.
- When the potatoes are soft (you’ll have to check them regularly but this usually takes about 40-50 minutes or about 10-20 minutes after you add the tomato) add the egg and yogurt mixture, spreading it on top.
- Place the tray back in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes.
Serve with salad or yogurt and garlic: it’s your call.
You need 15-20 minutes preparation time and up to one hour cooking time; it take me about 10 minutes to prepare.
Which is great because one of my rules, you may have noticed, is that if something takes over 15 minutes preparation time I don’t bother (except in exceptional circumstances).
You know the best bit?
Moussaka is delicious, wholesome food your family – particularly your children will love you for. And it works out at less than 40p per serving.
Eat for less at its best!
This looks delicious and I will be making it once it gets a little cooler! What kind of spices do you like to use in it?
@Michelle: I use basil; and quite a bit of it – otherwise this can be rather bland. You can put black pepper in as well if you like this kind of thing (I can’t stand black pepper).
I think I will add red pepper flakes and cumin seeds. Nom nom.