Greek moussaka homemade recipe. Moussaka in Greek, Bulgarian, Armenian, Serbian: the best recipes. How to cook moussaka with minced meat and eggplant, vegetables, potatoes, zucchini, rice, cabbage, vegetarian at home

In this article, we will look at the process of making moussaka.

In the culinary world, there are a huge number of recipes for delicious casseroles, but today our choice fell on an interesting dish, which is traditionally considered Greek.

So, today we will prepare a dish called moussaka, which is a delicate casserole with a variety of fillings.

Greek dish moussaka: a classic Greek recipe

Moussaka, as mentioned earlier, is a very popular Greek dish, which is usually prepared from vegetables, most often eggplant and minced meat with delicious bechamel sauce.

Since moussaka was originally considered an exclusively Greek dish, we will start preparing the delicacy according to the classic recipe.

So, we need the following products:

Potato - 2.5 kg
Eggplant - 2.5 kg
Olive or vegetable oil - 150 ml
Beef pulp - 1 kg
Bulb - 1 pc.
Tomatoes - 2 pcs.
Spices, salt - at your discretion
Breadcrumbs for breading - 3.5 tbsp. l.
Cheese - 50 g

We will also prepare the sauce, it will require the following ingredients:

Flour - 5.5 tbsp. l.
Butter - 200 g
Baked milk - 350 g
Eggs - 3-4 pcs., We only need yolks
Ground nutmeg - 1.5 tsp.

Now that all the ingredients are prepared, you can begin the process of cooking the dish itself.

Let's start with the meat. We take the pulp of beef, rinse it thoroughly and dry it with paper towels. Now grind the pulp into pieces so that you can make minced meat out of it. Chopped pieces can be chopped with a meat grinder or blender
Now we put our minced meat in a container in which we will fry it, pre-pour oil into the pan
We clean the onion and chop it, add to the minced meat
When the minced meat and onions are lightly fried, we flavor them with our spices and salt.
Let's take tomatoes. We wash them and grind them with a grater or blender. Put the resulting puree in a pan, mix all the ingredients, simmer until tender.
We take vegetables, wash, dry. Potatoes, after peeling, chop into slices of medium thickness. We also clean the eggplant and cut into slices, cut the vegetable along the length. In order to remove the bitterness from the vegetable, you can soak it for more than 10 minutes. in saline
We will pre-bake the vegetables a little in the oven, for this we transfer the potatoes and eggplants to a baking sheet and cook for about 20 minutes. at 170 degrees

While the mince and vegetables are cooking, let's make the sauce.

Take a container, put butter in it
As soon as the butter is completely melted, add flour to it and carefully mix the contents of the pan quickly in order to avoid lumps.
Now the turn of milk has come, it must be poured into the container very carefully, little by little. Pour milk - mix the ingredients
We drive eggs, spices into an almost ready sauce and beat the mixture. The sauce is ready

We collect our dish:

Spray a baking dish lightly with oil and sprinkle with breadcrumbs.
Lay the meat layer on the bottom
Now a layer of potatoes
eggplant layer
Once again, repeat the sequence, lay out all the layers
Pour our sauce into the mold
We put the dish to bake for about half an hour at the same temperature
For 3-5 min. before the end of the cooking process, sprinkle the moussaka with grated cheese

Recipe:

This recipe is very similar to the previous one, however, it contains other vegetables. So, let's see how easy and fast you can make Bulgarian moussaka.

We will need the following products:

Minced meat - 550 g
Bulb - 2 pcs.
Bulgarian pepper - 2 pcs.
Carrot - 1 pc.
Eggplant - 2 pcs.
Eggs - 3 pcs.
Yogurt for dressing - half a liter
Oil for frying - 3.5 tbsp. l.
Oregano, cinnamon, turmeric, paprika, salt - at your discretion

Let's start cooking:

Let's deal with minced meat. You can buy ground pork or ground beef. You can buy "assorted" or, if possible, buy the pulp, and make minced meat yourself. If you do not like fatty meat, however, you want to make moussaka, take minced chicken
Peel and mince the onion
Wash the pepper and remove the core, cut into rings
Eggplants are peeled, if necessary, we remove bitterness from them, cut into slices along the length
Wash carrots, chop into cubes or circles
Pour oil into the pan and put the onion and carrot there, fry the vegetables a little, about 3 minutes.
Add the minced meat to the vegetables, mix and fry for another 10 minutes.
We flavor the contents of the pan with spices, spices, salt
Eggplant and pepper pre-bake a little in the oven. To do this, put them on a baking sheet, greased with oil and cook for about 15 minutes.
Now we assemble the dish:
Put the eggplant in the mold
now pepper
Repeat the layout until the ingredients run out.
Yogurt, pre-mixed with eggs and flavored with spices and salt, pour into a mold
Bake moussaka for about 15-25 minutes.

Armenian eggplant moussaka: recipe

Moussaka in Armenian is somewhat different from the traditional dish. This delicacy turns out to be unusually satisfying, high-calorie and, of course, tasty.

We buy products:

Beef pulp - 650 g
Eggplant - 5 pcs.
Bulb - 1.5 pcs.
Tomatoes - 2 pcs.
Rice - half a cup
Oil for frying
Greens,

The cooking process is very simple:

We wash the beef pulp, dry it and cut into small pieces
Wash the eggplants, peel them and cut them into slices, sprinkle with salt in order to “pull out” the bitterness from them. After 15 min. Rinse the vegetables with water to remove excess salt.
Peel the onion and cut into cubes
We wash the rice in running cold water, this must be done as efficiently as possible. We put a container with rice and bring it to half-cooked
In a frying pan, into which we first pour oil, spread the meat and fry for 5 minutes.
Add the onion to the beef and continue to fry for about 3-5 minutes.
In another pan, fry the eggplant until half cooked. We put them on a plate and wait until the oil drains a little from the vegetables.
Mix rice, beef and onion in a bowl. Season it all with salt and spices, mix
My tomatoes and remove the core, cut into slices, finely chop the greens

Assembling the dish:

Grease a baking sheet or dish with oil
We spread the eggplant
Mix of rice and meat
eggplant
tomatoes

We put in the oven. We expect about 15-25 minutes. Serve the dish hot, pre-garnished with herbs. The peculiarity of this recipe is that not minced meat is put in the dish, but pieces of meat. However, if you don't like it, you can grind the pulp and use minced meat.

Serbian moussaka: recipe

Now let's see how Serbs prepare moussaka. We would call this dish more “light”, because according to this recipe, you need to use a minimum of ingredients.

Products we need:

Pulp of pork, beef - 300 g each
Potato - 7 pcs.
Carrot, onion - 2 pcs.
Eggs - 2 pcs.
Cheese - 50 g
Tomatoes - 2 pcs.
Spices, spices, salt - at your discretion
Vegetable oil
Greens
Milk

Cooking a dish:

We wash the meat, dry it and grind it with a meat grinder or blender.
Vegetables are cleaned and washed. Chop the onion into cubes, carrots into strips, potatoes into circles. It is worth slicing the potatoes as thinly as possible, because we will not pre-fry or boil it
Fry onions and carrots in oil, like frying for soup
We spread our minced meat to the fried vegetables and fry it for about 15 minutes.
We flavor the contents of the pan with spices, spices and salt
Lubricate the form with oil, spread the potatoes, minced meat, potatoes, minced meat and tomatoes, potatoes
We put the container in the oven and bake until the potatoes are ready, about 35-40 minutes.
Min. 10-15 before the end of the cooking process, beat the eggs with milk and pour the moussaka with this mixture. And in 5 min. - Sprinkle with shredded cheese
Already serving the dish, it must be flavored with chopped herbs.

Moussaka with potatoes: recipe

Moussaka with potatoes turns out to be very satisfying, so most housewives prefer this recipe. Let's see how to prepare this delicacy.

We will need:

Lamb pulp - 500 g
Bulb - 1.5 pcs.
Canned tomatoes - 300 g
Eggplant - 1 pc.
Potato - 4 pcs.
Sweet pepper - 1 pc.
Garlic - 3 cloves
Butter - 2 tbsp. l.
Milk - 250 ml
Cheese - 50 g
Vegetable oil - 3.5 tbsp. l.
Flour - 1.5-2 tbsp. l.
Spices, spices, salt - at your discretion

Let's start cooking:

Wash the meat, dry it and pass it through a meat grinder
Peel the onion and chop with a knife or blender
Put the onion in a heated frying pan with oil, after 3 minutes. add minced meat to it, fry the contents of the pan for 15-20 minutes.
We spread the tomatoes in the pan and season everything with salt, spices, mix, let it stew for about 15 minutes.
Wash the eggplant, peel and cut into circles, sprinkle with salt to remove bitterness. In 10 minutes. wash the eggplant and fry in a pan until half cooked
Peel the potatoes, cut into slices and lightly weld
Wash the pepper, remove the core and cut into slices
In a baking dish, pre-greased with oil, put the minced meat, potatoes, peppers and eggplant

Preparing the sauce:

Put the butter in a container, melt it, add flour, mix the ingredients thoroughly. Pour milk, let the contents of the pan boil and thicken, season with spices, add salt if necessary
Pour our moussaka with potatoes with this sauce and sprinkle the dish with chopped cheese
We wait about 40 minutes while the dish is cooked in the oven

Moussaka with zucchini: recipe

Moussaka with zucchini is very popular, because zucchini is an affordable vegetable, and the taste of the dish with it is simply incredible.

Ingredients for the dish:

Minced meat - 550 g
Bulb - 1.5 pcs.
Tomatoes - 2 pcs.
Zucchini - 4 pcs. (1 kg)
Potato - 2 pcs.
Red wine - 150 ml
Vegetable oil - 100 ml
Spices, spices, salt - at your discretion

We will prepare the sauce from the following products:

Flour - 2.5 tbsp. l.
Eggs - 3 pcs.
Hard cheese - 100 g
Butter - 100 g
A mixture of nuts (peanuts, almonds) - 50 g
Milk - half a liter

All the ingredients are collected, let's start cooking:

Let's start with the main ingredient. Wash zucchini and cut lengthwise into slices. Fry in oil until half cooked and transfer to a plate so that oil is glassed from vegetables
Wash the potatoes, boil in their skins until half cooked, peel and cut into slices
The onion should be peeled, finely chopped
In a frying pan, into which we first pour oil, spread the onion, after 3 minutes. Add minced meat, mix, fry for about 7 minutes.
At this time, wash the tomatoes, remove the core and chop
Now we spread the tomatoes to the minced meat, flavor it all with spices, salt and pour in the wine, mix and simmer until the liquid evaporates

We prepare the sauce like this:

Melt the butter in a bowl, add flour to it, mix. Pour milk, flavor with spices, turn off the fire under the pan. Add pre-chopped mixture of nuts and cheese, mix. Crack the eggs into the sauce, beat the mixture

Assembling the dish:

In a pre-oiled form, put the zucchini (half), potatoes, minced meat and all other zucchini. Pour the sauce, cook in the oven for about an hour.

Moussaka with rice: recipe

It's time to tell you about a delicious casserole with rice and vegetables. This recipe is perfect for those people who are watching their figure or just want to diversify the menu with some kind of dish that does not contain meat.

We buy the following products:

Eggplant - 4 pcs.
Bulb - 2 pcs.
Sweet pepper - 2 pcs.
Tomatoes - 2 pcs.
Rice - half a cup
Eggs - 2 pcs.
Wheat flour - 2 tbsp. l.
Milk - 200 ml
Vegetable oil - half a cup
Spices, spices, salt - at your discretion

Cooking moussaka:

Wash eggplant, peel, remove bitterness from them in a known way. Wash and pan fry
Wash the rice thoroughly until the water is clear.
Peel the onion and chop as finely as possible.
Saute onion and rice for about 10 minutes. stir the ingredients all the time.
Add about 300 ml of water to the rice, add salt, and cook until the water evaporates
Tomatoes cut into slices
Wash the peppers, remove the core and cut into slices
In a pre-oiled form, put half the eggplant, tomatoes and rice, then all the peppers, again rice, eggplant, tomatoes
Cover the form tightly with foil and send to bake for about half an hour.
Beat the egg, flour, spices, salt and milk and get the sauce
Fill after 30 minutes. sauce our dish and already without foil bring to readiness for about 20 minutes.

Moussaka with cabbage: recipe

We present to your attention an unusually tasty and healthy recipe. This dish is perfect not only for a family lunch or dinner, but also for a festive table. Such moussaka always turns out very fragrant and tender.

Required products:

Pulp of beef, pork - 550 g
Champignons - 350 g
Cauliflower - 550 g
Bulb -1 pc.
Garlic - a couple of cloves
Milk - half a liter
Eggs - 4 pcs.
Cheese -70 g
Spices, spices, salt - at your discretion
Vegetable oil - 3 tbsp. l.

Preparing a treat:

We clean the onion and garlic and pass it through a meat grinder together with the meat, we get minced meat
Mushrooms are cleaned, washed and chopped into slices, or we cut each mushroom into 2-4 parts
Fry the mushrooms in vegetable oil, and after 5 minutes. add minced meat to it and fry the contents of the pan for about 15-20 minutes.
Flavor the minced meat with the necessary spices and salt
Let's get to the cabbage. We thoroughly wash it, divide it into inflorescences and lower them for 5 minutes. into boiling water
We take a baking sheet, but rather a deeper baking dish and grease with oil
Place half of the cabbage in a bowl.
Then put mince
And another layer of cabbage
Beat eggs, milk and cheese with salt and spices. Pour moussaka with this liquid
Cook in the oven for about 1 hour.
Serve hot, however, in this case, the dish may crumble. It is better to let the dish cool a little and then cut it into portioned pieces.

Vegetarian moussaka with vegetables: recipe

There is no meat, milk and eggs in your diet, but you really want to try this dish? For you, there is an excellent recipe for vegetarian moussaka, which, by the way, is no less in demand than recipes that contain meat.

So we need to take:

Potato - 3 pcs.
Bulb - 1.5 pcs.
Carrot - 1 pc.
Sweet pepper - 2 pcs.
Eggplant - 2 pcs.
Tomatoes - 2 pcs.
Zucchini - 1 pc.
Spices, spices, salt - at your discretion
Vegetable oil
Garlic - a couple of cloves
Vegetable broth or water - 200 ml

Cooking a dish:

Wash eggplant, peel and cut into circles, which we cover with salt for 7 minutes in order to remove bitterness. After the procedure, do not forget to rinse the vegetables
We clean the potatoes, wash them and cut into circles in the same way
We clean the onion and chop it into rings or half rings
Wash, peel and chop carrots in any way
Rinse the pepper and remove the core from it. Grind in circles
Tomatoes cut into slices, pre-washed
Finely chop the garlic

Assembling the dish is very simple:

Grease the form with oil, put potatoes, garlic, eggplant, onions, carrots, peppers and tomatoes
Each layer must be lightly flavored with spices, salt and oil.
Pour the broth into the container and put in the oven for 40-50 minutes. until vegetables are ready

It is important to say that the main vegetable used in this dish is eggplant. Other vegetables you can choose at your discretion. Some add celery, broccoli, asparagus, and even pumpkin.

Moussaka: recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

Julia Vysotskaya needs no introduction. All hostesses probably know this sorceress of their business. That is why we decided to tell the recipe for this dish, which she uses in her kitchen.

We need these products:

Beef pulp - 550 g
Eggplant - 2 pcs.
Red bulb - 1.5 pcs.
Tomato paste - 1.5 tbsp. l.
Fresh mint and parsley - 1 bunch each
Butter - 1.5 tsp.
Olive oil - 3.5 tbsp. l.
A mixture of spices and spices: cumin, hot red pepper, black pepper, paprika, salt
Cheese - 80 g
Milk - 450 ml
Wheat flour - 2.5 tbsp. l.
Ground nutmeg - 5 g

Cooking moussaka:

Eggplant should be washed and dried. Next, cut them into slices lengthwise, flavor with oil, spices, salt and fry
Grind the meat with a blender or in a meat grinder
We clean the onion and chop it in half rings and fry in a pan with olive and butter
Season the onion with spices, salt and spread the tomato paste to it
Chopped herbs (parsley)
We spread the minced meat and parsley in a container with onions, fry for about 15 minutes.
We take and grind the cheese. According to the recipe, you need to take Parmesan, but the cost of this product is high and, if desired, it can be replaced with any other hard cheese

We make the sauce like this.

All dry ingredients are fried in a pan.
Slowly pour the milk into the pan, stir
As soon as the contents boil, remove the pan from the heat, pour the sauce into a plate and add cheese to it, mix

We collect the dish.

Place the eggplant in a baking dish. You need to lay them out so that the sides of the dish are obtained from the slices
Now we put minced meat there
Pour the sauce into the mold
We send it to the oven for half an hour
We decorate the already prepared dish with fresh mint leaves.

Moussaka is an interesting and delicious dish. Preparing such a delicacy is as easy as shelling pears, and the simplest ingredients are needed for the dish. Therefore, we recommend that you definitely try this delicacy. And one more tip: do not be afraid to try something new, add your own ingredients and spices, because you are cooking first of all for yourself. Enjoy your meal!

Video: Moussaka in Greek

Moussaka is a traditional dish prepared by the inhabitants of the Balkans and the Middle East. It is a casserole made from thin slices of eggplant, which are layered with minced meat (usually lamb), tomatoes and vegetables. Moussaka recipes can be varied, the composition of the products in them and the sequence of preparation depends on the country in which the dish is prepared. For example, minced meat. It may not be lamb, but veal, or even absent altogether - then the moussaka will be vegetable. Some peoples put potatoes with sweet peppers and other vegetables in moussaka, while others, in addition to tomatoes, use sour cream and eggs.

One thing remains unchanged for all recipes - this is the presence of eggplant in the casserole. Another feature of moussaka is that all products are put into the dish at the same time and stewed for about an hour. The main and obligatory vegetables, in addition to eggplant, are onions and tomatoes. As a rule, in addition to them, the dish contains at least one more vegetable in the form of cabbage (white or cauliflower), potatoes, zucchini, green peas. Moussaka is usually seasoned with various spices - garlic, bay leaf, black or red pepper, dill and parsley; as well as fats - sunflower oil and sour cream.

The principle of preparing moussaka is also common to most recipes - meat is used in the form of minced meat, vegetables are cut into circles, and cabbage is cut into strips. Then, in a wide and shallow pan, greased with butter, eggplants, onions, tomatoes, zucchini or potatoes (or other vegetables used) are laid out in layers, and meat is on top. Sprinkled with herbs, moussaka is baked in the oven, after which it is served hot.

Moussaka - food preparation

The main product for moussaka is eggplant. They are usually washed, cut into circles having a thickness of about 5 mm, and sprinkled with salt so that the bitterness characteristic of them comes out of the eggplant along with the juice.

Another important component of moussaka, unless it is vegetarian, is meat, most often lamb. Meat for moussaka is used in minced meat, for which the prepared meat pulp is washed, the film is released and twisted in a meat grinder.

The remaining components of moussaka, vegetables (onions with carrots, bell peppers, etc.) are peeled and cut according to the recipe, usually in rings or circles.

Moussaka - the best recipes

Recipe 1: Greek Moussaka

As you know, moussaka is prepared by folding products into a mold and stewing them together. Imagine how fragrant and tasty the dish will turn out, for the preparation of which young lamb with eggplants, tomatoes, onions, garlic and seasonings will be stewed in a high baking pan in layers! This is a real dish for a family dinner or lunch, which is sure to be appreciated by all your family members.

Ingredients:

1 kg of lamb pulp;
3 eggplants;
5 medium tomatoes;
1 large onion;
3 art. l. olive oil;
3 cloves of garlic;
4 leaves of fresh mint;
2 bay leaves;
0.5 tsp. coriander with ground cloves;
nutmeg (ground) on the tip of a knife;
0.5 cups of dry white wine;
100 gr. flour;
salt and pepper to taste;

for the top:

0.5 cups of grated parmesan cheese;
100 gr. flour;
300 gr. milk;
50 gr. butter:
a few sprigs of parsley.

Cooking method:

1. After washing the lamb and cutting it into small pieces, we pass the meat through a meat grinder.

2. Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic, wash the tomatoes and cut them into cubes. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, fry the onion on it, after 5-7 minutes add the minced meat, mix well and fry for about 10 more minutes. Then add tomatoes with garlic, mint, bay leaf, cloves, coriander, nutmeg, salt, pepper and simmer for about 15 minutes. Then, pouring in the wine and stirring everything, bring to a boil. Then, removing from heat and draining excess liquid, cover with a lid.

3. After peeling the eggplants, cut them into circles, the thickness of which should be about 1 cm. Then put them in a bowl in layers and sprinkle with salt, leave for 15 minutes. After draining the juice that comes out of the eggplant, rinse them with water and dry with paper towel.

4. Warming up the olive oil in a frying pan, fry the eggplant slices in it, first dipping each in the sifted flour. Frying time on each side is about 1 minute. After frying, put the circles on a paper towel so that it absorbs excess fat.

5. We spread the fried eggplants in a deep refractory form, put half of the prepared minced meat on them, on top of the minced meat - the second layer of eggplants. From above we cover it with another layer of minced meat and level the surface.

6. My parsley and finely chop it. Heat the butter in a saucepan, pour in the flour and cook for about 5 minutes with constant stirring.

7. Slightly warm the milk, drive in the eggs and mix thoroughly. Add this mixture to the saucepan and cook for about 5 minutes with constant stirring. Then add grated parmesan with herbs, stir and remove from heat. Lubricate the surface of the moussaka with the resulting sauce.

8. Bake moussaka for about half an hour in a well-heated oven and serve it on the table directly in the form in which it was prepared, divided into portions.

Recipe 2: Vegetarian Moussaka

Among the adherents of vegetarianism, you can also meet many gourmets. And they will surely appreciate this moussaka recipe, in which potatoes are cooked in layers with onions, carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes and garlic. The dish is very tasty and fragrant.

Ingredients:

5 potatoes;
2 medium onions;
1 large carrot;
1 large bell pepper;
2 medium eggplants;
4 tomatoes;
2 cloves of garlic;
olive oil;
salt and pepper to taste;
dry mediterranean herbs;
optional bay leaf with allspice.

Cooking method:

1. Cut the eggplants into circles and, sprinkling abundantly with salt, let them stand to drain the juice from them, which then needs to be washed off with cold water.

2. We clean the potatoes, cut them into the same circles as eggplants, and spread them evenly in a heavy-bottomed pan greased with olive oil. Salt, pepper and drizzle with olive oil.

3. Having cut the onion into thin rings, spread it in an even layer on the potatoes, salt and pepper.

4. Peel the carrots and cut into circles, put it on the onion and also salt and pepper, sprinkle with olive oil.

5. Peel and cut the Bulgarian pepper into rings, salt and pepper, sprinkle with olive oil.

6. Finely chop the greens, chop the garlic.

6. Next, laying out the eggplants, salt and pepper them, sprinkle with oil. And finally, the last layer lay out the tomatoes, cut into thin circles. Pour 100 ml of water into the pan and put it on a slow fire. When about 5 minutes remain until the end of cooking, add greens with garlic.

Recipe 3: Greek Moussaka with Ground Beef and Potatoes

Another moussaka recipe, but it contains potatoes, which, combined with meat and vegetables, makes a very tasty and satisfying dish.

Ingredients:

0.5 kg of minced beef;
3 potatoes;
2 eggplants;
1 onion;
2 cloves of garlic;
200 gr. cheese;
2 tbsp. l. tomato paste;
400 gr. cream;
2 tbsp. l. flour;
salt to taste.

Cooking method:

1. After peeling the onion, chop it finely and lightly fry in vegetable oil with chopped garlic. Then add minced meat there and continue to fry for about 5 minutes, at the end of frying add tomato paste.

2. After cutting the eggplants into circles, salt and let them stand so that bitterness leaves them with the released juice.

3. We clean the potatoes and boil them in salted water, then, having cooled, cut them into circles.

4. After frying the flour in a pan, add cream to it, salt and bring to a boil.

5. Put layers of minced meat, eggplant, potatoes on a baking sheet, then, pouring them with creamy sauce and sprinkling cheese on top, bake the moussaka in the oven to form a golden crust. Serve warm.

It is believed that olive oil is best suited for making moussaka, however, sunflower or corn oil can also be used.

Moussaka is a dish that must be juicy and at the same time well-baked. Therefore, for those who like to cook in the microwave, this is the advice: in this case, we do not fry the eggplants, cut them into circles, but cut them in half, bake in the oven for about 10 minutes and cut them into thin plates, which we use in cooking. This will keep more juice in the eggplant.

Moussaka is usually served hot, but you can also use it as a cold appetizer. Then it is good to supplement it with a thick tomato sauce, which can be prepared by whipping peeled and seeded tomatoes, herbs, garlic and vegetable oil.

Moussaka with minced meat is a hallmark of Mediterranean cuisine. Nobody knows the exact history of this dish, it is prepared in many countries, and there are as many cooking options as there are countries themselves. In Greece, eggplants are added to meat, tomatoes are offered in the Serbian version, and potatoes in Bulgaria. In Arab countries, the dish is served as a cold salad with tomatoes and eggplant. By the way, the origin of the word “moussaka” (accent on the last syllable) is Arabic, and it means “chilled”.

I suggest that you familiarize yourself with the recipe for Greek moussaka, so loved by all tourists. In Greece, moussaka is served both in inexpensive cafes and in luxurious restaurants. But in order to try this delicious casserole, it is not at all necessary to go somewhere, the proposed recipe with a photo is as close as possible to the classic Greek one and can be easily used at home. For cooking, you will need eggplant, some potatoes, minced lamb and a traditional filling - Bechamel sauce. And of course, almost no Greek dish is complete without cheese and olive oil. Vegetables for casseroles can be pre-fried or baked in the oven - do as you like. In the first version, olive oil is used to lubricate the pan, in the second - vegetables.

Olive oil is a true Greek product. First-pressed oil is the most useful, it contains a lot of fatty acids (oleic, omega 3 and 9), vitamins A, D, E, K. It is believed that such oil is not used for frying, since all the benefits disappear under the influence of high temperature. But contrary to popular belief, many Italian, Greek, French chefs fry exclusively on it. There is a way to keep the maximum benefit of olive oil: fry food over low to medium heat. If the oil starts to burn and smoke, the temperature has been exceeded. You can also bake vegetables in the oven - the oil will definitely not burn there, unless, of course, you set a timer.

Greek moussaka is vaguely reminiscent of Italian lasagna, the recipe of which is located. Only instead of dough, a vegetable layer is used. Initially, the Greek recipe involves only eggplant, but its modern modifications allow the addition of potatoes and zucchini. Greek casserole with eggplant and potatoes is very satisfying and stands out a bit among the low-calorie Mediterranean dishes. According to tradition, it is prepared with minced lamb, but it also comes out quite tasty and juicy with pork and beef. You can even try minced turkey or chicken if you need to reduce the fat content of the dish. What else makes the casserole zest? This is red wine, which is added during the process of stewing meat. A special Mediterranean flavor is given to the meat dish by a cinnamon stick and mint. How to cook juicy and tasty moussaka step by step? Sharing the recipe!

Ingredients:

for moussaka:

3 eggplants (600-700 g);
4 large potato tubers (600-700 g);
3 small tomatoes (300 g);
1 small onion (300 g);
500 g of lamb or pork and beef mince;
200 g mozzarella;
100 ml. red dry wine;
2 cloves of garlic;
salt, pepper to taste;
cinnamon stick;
a few mint leaves;
extra virgin olive oil.

for the bechamel sauce:

1 l. milk;
100 g butter;
3 tbsp flour;
a pinch of nutmeg;
0.5 tsp provencal herbs.

Greek moussaka recipe with eggplant, potatoes, minced meat and bechamel sauce

1. Cut the washed eggplant into circles about half a centimeter thick.

2. Salt and leave for 20-30 minutes, so that the pieces release the juice, with which all the bitterness comes out of the eggplant.

3. Cut the potatoes into circles of about the same thickness as the eggplant.

4. Put the potatoes on a baking sheet covered with baking paper, lightly sprinkle with olive oil and bake for 20 minutes at 200 degrees. It should become soft and brown a little on top.

5. We make cuts on the skin of tomatoes to make it easier to remove it.

6. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes and leave for 5 minutes.

7. Meanwhile, finely chop the onion.

Tip: To keep from crying while slicing, chew on something or rinse your knife with cold water.

8. Put the onion in a pan with heated olive oil and sauté until half cooked.

9. Spread the minced meat to the onion and break it with a spatula, then mix with the onion.

10. You can already peel the skin from the tomatoes. Cut the fruits into small cubes.

11. Minced meat seized, meat juice began to stand out.

12. It's time to add the tomatoes to the minced meat.

13. Pour in red wine.

14. Add spices: mint and cinnamon stick.

15. Add water and simmer over low heat.

16. Wash the eggplants and squeeze the juice, dry with paper towels.

17. We also bake eggplants until soft (about 20 minutes), brushing a little olive oil on top.

18. Not a single moussaka is complete without Bechamel sauce. Interestingly, the origin of the fill is not Greek, but French! The preparation of the sauce is described in detail. So, melt half the butter over low heat, pour in the flour and mix immediately. Now pour in the warm milk in small portions, without ceasing to stir. Salt and pepper, mix and cook after boiling for another 2-3 minutes. Now turn off the heat, put the remaining oil and cover the pan with a lid until it is completely dissolved. Bechamel is ready. It will thicken a bit as it cools.

19. Half of the liquid from the pan has evaporated, minced meat remained in the sauce. You can get a cinnamon stick (it has already worked its way), add squeezed garlic, mix and remove the pan from the stove.

20. Rub the mozzarella on a fine grater.

21. We begin to collect moussaka with potatoes and eggplant. Grease the bottom of the mold with bechamel sauce.

22. Put a layer of eggplant in the form, arrange the circles tightly to each other.

23. Put minced meat on top.

24. Sprinkle with a little cheese.

25. Spread potatoes and cover with sauce.

26. The next layer is minced meat again.

27. And sprinkle with cheese again.

28. Spread the remaining eggplant.

29. Pour all the remaining sauce and mozzarella. We put moussaka with eggplant in a heated oven and bake at 180 degrees for 40 minutes.

30. Moussaka is baked, the cheese is beautifully browned. You can decorate the Greek casserole with a sprig of mint and serve. Enjoy your meal!