Moussaka with potatoes. Moussaka with potatoes and minced meat

05.12.2021

Ancient and eternally young Hellas not only generously shares with its guests its rich and unique history, picturesque seascapes, beautiful resorts, good nature and hospitality of the inhabitants, but also the tastes and aromas of its national dishes.

And everyone who has been here dreams of returning at least for a short time in order to once again enjoy the unique charm of this wonderful country and the magnificent “taste holiday” of Greek cuisine.

For those who have not yet been to Greece, and for those who, after visiting this wonderful country, have retained warm memories of small cozy taverns, I suggest making an exciting journey in the form of a small culinary adventure called “Traditional Greek Moussaka Dish”.

Let's join the feast of taste together as we explore the history of the famous Greek dish and how it is prepared.

A bit of history

What is moussaka?
Moussaka (emphasis on the last syllable) is a casserole of eggplant and lamb, sometimes ground beef, pork or chicken, topped with a thick layer of béchamel sauce, which becomes solid and golden in color during cooking.

I do not at all think that Socrates or Demosthenes tried moussaka. It was not served either in ancient Athens or in the glorious Sparta. And she could not appear in those ancient times. However, this dish has its own interesting history..

Its main components - eggplants, having passed their winding path from East India to ancient China, and at the same time to Central Asia and Egypt, only in the XIII century come from the Arab countries to Italy, and then to Spain and Greece.

Europeans did not eat them for a long time, thinking that they were poisonous. The Greeks began to cultivate and consume eggplant only at the end of the 19th century. The name "moussaka" itself is first found in an old Arabic book of the thirteenth century known as the Baghdad Cookbook.

But the method of preparing the ancient Arabic moussaka bears little resemblance to the Greek one, just as the culinary recipes of dishes under the same name, which are prepared in Libya, Turkey and Moldova, are not similar to it.

Became Moussaka is the culinary hallmark of Greece, which is so loved by gourmets in many countries of the world, was invented by the famous chef Nikos Tselemendis at the beginning of the twentieth century.

The famous Greek culinary specialist studied his art in Vienna, and then, returning to Greece, worked as a cook in various foreign embassies.
In 1919, he became the general director of the large Ermis Hotel, but in the same year, leaving this prestigious post for unknown reasons, he left for America.

There he worked in many of the famous and most expensive American restaurants, while graduating in three specialties: cook, pastry chef and nutritionist.

Returning to Greece in 1932, Nikos founded a small pastry school and at the same time wrote a cookbook in which he published his own recipes. The cookbook quickly became wildly popular and was reprinted 15 times in a single decade.
Until now, it is the desktop for many famous Greek chefs.

As Tselemendis himself explains, in his culinary creations he wanted to combine traditional Greek products with the best inventions of fine European cuisine, of which he was an ardent admirer.
This was successfully done in moussaka!

From the combination of vegetables and lamb familiar to every Greek peasant with French bechamel sauce, Greek moussaka really became a world culinary masterpiece and gained immense popularity first among the Greeks themselves, and then in the world.

Does moussaka come with lobster

Even some two or three decades ago, the world knew almost nothing about Greek cuisine.

There is a certain stereotype that Greek cuisine is very simple dishes without any frills, and Greek chefs prepare them according to the recipes of their grandmothers or aunts - these dishes will definitely not surprise gourmets with their variety and taste.
Just think, a simple Greek moussaka, why be surprised?

However, I will give a few examples of the incredible popularity of Greek dishes..

Young Greek Chef Nikos Karvelas, who currently lives in New York, opened his family restaurant there, which has become a very fashionable establishment among the most sophisticated and expensive restaurants in America.
It is visited by many world celebrities such as Chris Cornell - the vocalist of Soundgarden, the famous singer Rihanna, David Blaine - the famous magician and magician, the Brazilian king of football Pele, the pop diva Madonna and many others.

As you know, world stars are very capricious in choosing products. For example, Madonna does not eat meat, but only fish or seafood, and Pele hates eggplant. But meat and eggplant are the main ingredients of Greek moussaka, and yet celebrities order it among other Greek dishes. How so?

Nikos believes that everyone has the right to their quirks, and world celebrities, and ordinary visitors, so he tries to please any client. Upon learning that Madonna wanted to try Greek moussaka, he replaced lamb with lobster meat for the pop diva, and eggplant for papaya for Pele. And then, he watched the surprise and delight on the faces of his customers when they tried his creations.

Charalambos Nikolaides, probably the only Greek living in far northern Alaska. He taught the Eskimos and Aleuts to eat moussaka, tzatziki, spanakopita and other Greek dishes.. Surprisingly, it's true!

Charalambos, having arrived at the Ice Sculpture Festival, held annually in the small town of Fairbanks, was fascinated by its harsh northern beauty and decided to stay here. He bought himself a small wooden frame, where he settled with his wife.

Here they opened a Greek restaurant, which is in constant demand among local residents, who liked all Greek dishes, and especially moussaka. They consider it the best delicacy in the world..

And on the other side of the world in distant Australia in 2012, a book was published that became the bestseller of the year and this is not a detective story, not an adventure, not a fashionable fantasy or an essay on psychology.

The book is called "My Greek Cuisine", and its author is an Australian of Greek origin Maria Bale who was born in Melbourne. Her mother is a Greek woman from the Peloponnese.
Maria explains the success of her book very simply:

“I really wanted to give my children the treasure left to me by my mother - the recipes for traditional Greek dishes that she has been collecting for many years.
When I wrote it, I realized that this is a gift not only to them, but to all my readers who love Greek cuisine.”

And the recipe that flaunts on the front page of her book is Greek moussaka.

Well, it's time for us to arrange this little celebration of taste, cook and treat ourselves and our loved ones with this wonderful dish!

Recipe for classic Greek moussaka with eggplant, potatoes and minced meat

From childhood, I remember that the preparation of moussaka in our house began with disputes between my grandmother and her girlfriends whether they put potatoes in moussaka or not. Some argued that they must be put, others that real moussaka is prepared only with eggplant.

I think that such disputes arose not only in our kitchen, but also in many other Greek houses. They continue to this day. But nevertheless, whether or not my grandmother put potatoes in the dish, it has always been for me one of the most favorite ones prepared by her. I cook moussaka with potatoes for my family. My husband and kids love this dish.

To prepare moussaka we need:

1 kg eggplant (about 6-7 medium fruits);
400-450 grams of potatoes (about 5 pieces of medium size);
100 grams of grated Parmesan cheese;
2-3 tablespoons of breadcrumbs;
2 tablespoons .

For the meat filling:

500 gr ground beef;
250 g of minced pork (who does not eat pork, you can replace it with chicken or lamb);
half a tea cup of olive oil;
2 medium sized onions;
3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped;
a little green parsley:
400 gr. fresh tomatoes;
1 tablespoon of tomato paste;
half a glass of white dry;
1 teaspoon of sugar;
1 cinnamon stick;
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg;
1 bay leaf;
4 allspice peas, salt and black pepper to taste.

For the bechamel sauce:

5 tablespoons of butter;
5 tablespoons of flour;
¼ teaspoon of nutmeg;
150 gr grated hard low-melting cheese;
half a teaspoon of salt;
1 liter of milk;
a little olive oil 1-2 tablespoons.

Preparation of all components

1. First of all, let's prepare the eggplant. Wash, peel the stalks and cut them into medium-sized slices of about 1 cm. In a bowl, make a salt brine for 0.5 liters of water, 1 tablespoon of coarse salt, and soak the eggplants in it for 1 hour so that all the bitterness comes out of them. While the eggplant is taking a salt bath, we put a deep frying pan on the fire and add 2 tablespoons of oil to it.

2. We rub 2 medium onions on a coarse grater, and fry them until golden brown, then put the mixed minced meat in the pan and mix well with the fried onions. Add chopped garlic, and then dry wine and again mix everything well.

3. While the wine is evaporating, peel the tomatoes and three of them on a fine grater, put the resulting mass in a pan with the minced meat and mix everything well again. Dissolve the tomato paste in water and pour into the pan.

4. We put our spices: nutmeg, bay leaf, allspice, cinnamon. Salt, pepper and add sugar to taste, reduce the heat to a minimum and leave the mixture to simmer until all the liquid has evaporated.

5. Before turning off the fire, take out the cinnamon, bay leaf and allspice from the mixture, sprinkle with finely chopped parsley and mix the mixture again.

6. We take out the eggplants, wash them in cold water, put them in a colander and let the water drain.

7. We clean, wash and cut the potatoes into medium-sized circles and put the potatoes on a baking sheet covered with baking paper and lightly greased with olive oil. We put the baking sheet in the oven preheated to 180 degrees for 10 minutes.

8. We do the same procedure with eggplants previously dried with a paper towel.

Attention! Many Greek housewives fry eggplants and potatoes in a frying pan, in a small amount of oil on both sides for several minutes.
In any case, whichever method you choose, remember: the vegetables must be brought to half-cooked so that they do not fall apart during the assembly of the casserole itself.

Now you can start preparing the bechamel sauce.

How to make bechamel sauce

You need to find non-stick deep dishes. We put it on the fire and melt the butter. It should not boil, but only soften.
Pour our flour carefully, but not all at once, but gradually, intensively mixing it with a whisk so that the mixture does not burn. And immediately pour milk in small portions (preferably hot), without ceasing to mix the mixture so that thick lumps do not form.
Let the sauce boil over low heat and thicken to the consistency of a very thick semolina porridge. Throughout the cooking of the sauce, it must be constantly stirred with a whisk. Don't forget to add some salt, grated nutmeg and some grated cheese to the sauce.

Everything, our bechamel is ready!

It's time to assemble our casserole.

Many housewives add eggs to bechamel, but I don’t, meanwhile, the sauce turns out to be very tender and tasty. Try it, I think you will like my recipe without excess cholesterol.

How to assemble and bake moussaka

3. Spread the meat mixture on top of the eggplant, spreading it over the entire surface - this is our third layer of the casserole.

4. And the last top layer is bechamel. It is necessary to lay out the sauce very evenly and beautifully so that the bechamel is well distributed over the entire surface of the minced meat, for this we level it with a spatula or knife.
Drizzle the top of the bechamel with olive oil and sprinkle generously with grated cheese.

5. We cover the surface of the moussaka with baking paper or aluminum sheet, and put it in the oven, heated to 180 degrees, for one hour. After about forty-five minutes, remove the baking sheet and let the crust brown well.
Our moussaka is ready!

6. Turn off the oven, remove the baking sheet and let the casserole cool slightly. Then we cut it into portions. Put them on a plate and decorate with herbs and tomatoes.
You can serve the dish on the table.

Bon appetit everyone! Kali orexy!

The recipe for real Greek moussaka was shared by Ekaterina Aravani

Moussaka is a popular Greek dish. A high-calorie and incredibly tasty dish served in every Greek restaurant.

Moussaka is a casserole of vegetables, especially eggplant, and meat with bechamel sauce. The moussaka recipe is known in the cuisine of many countries, but the Greek moussaka is the most delicious.

There are many varieties of eggplant and meat casseroles, and there is always room for your own culinary and taste preferences. After all, a wonderful cap of French bechamel sauce was added to the moussaka in Greek - and the taste of the dish only won! With traditional Greek yogurt instead of moussaka sauce, it is just as wonderful.

Moussak recipe at home

The recipe includes the main components of Greek moussaka (eggplant, meat, bechamel, cheese) with a little improvisation (no nutmeg, but there are sun-dried tomatoes). The classic recipe is at the bottom of the page.

Ingredients

eggplant - 1 kg
bow - 2
minced beef (mutton) - 500 grams
tomatoes - 3 medium
sun-dried tomatoes - 4-5 pcs.
dry red wine - 150 ml
cheese - 100 grams
butter - 70 grams
milk - 1 cup
flour - 1.5 tbsp. spoons
spices, salt, pepper, olive oil

How to make moussaka

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Eggplant for moussaka.
The basis of moussaka is eggplant layers, due to which the appetizer keeps its shape when served in portions. To make the serving perfect, take young fruits without ripe seeds.

To peel or not to peel eggplant for moussaka?
In a traditional dish, vegetables are used along with the skin, but you can also peel them completely or remove them in strips. When baked, the skin will become soft and practically will not be noticeable in the dish. If you decide to leave, then choose eggplant without dark spots.

How to cut?
The shape of the cut does not play a big role - cut along, getting plates, or across into circles. The main thing is that the eggplant pieces fit well into the mold, leaving no empty gaps between them. Keep this in mind when choosing the shape of the cut. The thickness of the pieces is 0.5-1 cm.

Then the eggplant should be thermally processed.
How? They can be blanched, baked in the oven, fried in a pan (grill pan).

If you bake in the oven or fry, put the chopped eggplant in a bowl, add salt and leave for 20 minutes to release the bitterness. Rinse under running water and pat dry. Then fry with a little oil. It is worth remembering that eggplants draw in a lot of oil during frying, and when they are ready, they give the oil back. Knowing this feature, use a minimum of fat - only to grease the bottom of the pan, and then put the eggplants on a sieve so that the oil drains.

To bake in the oven, brush eggplant slices on both sides with olive oil.

Minced meat for moussaka.
Fry minced beef in olive oil. Stir all the time and break up lumps.

Peel and chop the onion. Cut the tomatoes in half and grate the pulp on a coarse grater, discard the skin. Add onions and tomatoes to minced meat.

Stir and continue cooking for 5-7 minutes. Then pour in the wine. Which wine is better? Opinions differ on this, choose to your taste - red, white, or even brandy.

Add spices to the minced meat: bay leaf, oregano, allspice, cinnamon, sun-dried tomatoes, lemon zest, chili flakes - to your taste.

Make the fire small and evaporate the liquid, bringing the minced meat to readiness and not forgetting to stir from time to time. Ready stuffing should be dryish, and the liquid is completely evaporated.

Prepare the bechamel sauce.
Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour, a whisk will do just fine. Aim for a thick roux (flour and milk base). Set the fire under the saucepan to a minimum. Let the butter and flour almost boil.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and pour in the milk, stirring constantly, in a thin stream. Warm milk slightly before adding.

The sauce will change before your eyes: at first it will be liquid, and after a couple of minutes it will begin to turn into a thick, creamy consistency.

So, the base sauce is ready, but it can be supplemented with grated cheese or egg yolk, seasoned with nutmeg.

When all the components of the moussaka are ready, you can start assembling. For this purpose, you will need a baking dish with sides.

Assembly and laying out.
First, form the bottom layer of eggplant, laying the largest pieces tightly together.

Sprinkle with grated cheese.

The next layer consists of minced meat.

Cover the minced meat with a layer of eggplant. If the shape and quantity of products allows, then the stacking can be increased by a couple more layers. Eggplants are the last layer - they are sprinkled with cheese and poured with bechamel sauce.

Sprinkle the top with cheese.

Cover the mold with foil. Bake in preheated oven at 180 degrees for 15 minutes. Then remove the foil and cook for another 15-20 minutes.

Serving moussaka.
Moussaka should (if you have enough patience) cool before serving: a little warm or cold, it is perfectly cut into portioned pieces.

Other moussaka recipes What can include moussaka

Vegetables. Some recipes for Greek moussaka include potatoes, which must be prepared in the same way as zucchini (cut and fried or baked). Usually put it in the base of the casserole, to give stability to the multilayer structure. The presence of potatoes does not particularly affect the taste, but a high-calorie dish with potatoes becomes even more satisfying and high-calorie.

Ground meat. Classic moussaka recipes use ground lamb or a mixture of ground lamb and ground beef, but if you like pork and beef, then cook with it.

Sauce. For the base of the sauce, you can use not only wheat flour, but also corn flour (bechamel with corn flour is pure improvisation, and it is very tasty and unusual).

You can make portioned mini moussaka: cut the eggplant in half lengthwise, carefully remove part of the pulp, and blanch the boat in salted water; fry the minced meat with the pulp taken out, slices of tomatoes, chopped onions and seasonings; put the minced meat in the boat, pour the sauce on top (from yogurt or bechamel); fold into a mold, pour some water and bake in the oven.

Classic Greek moussaka recipe

Perhaps you should have started with this moussaka recipe, since it is considered basic. Includes, in addition to eggplant, potatoes. Nutmeg is part of both minced meat and bechamel.

(for 7 people)

Ingredients

For the base

3 kg potatoes
2 kg eggplant
1/2 liter olive oil

For minced meat

850 grams ground beef
1 bulb
2 fresh tomatoes
2 glasses of water
salt and pepper
2/3 cup olive oil

For the bechamel sauce

5-6 tablespoons flour
250 grams of butter
400 grams of baked milk
800 grams of water - to dilute the milk
40 grams of grated low-melting hard cheese
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon nutmeg powder
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs

How to make Greek moussaka

1. Peel the potatoes and cut them into long slices 2 cm thick.

2. Wash the eggplants and cut them into 2 cm thick slices. Place the sliced eggplants in salt water for 20 minutes to release the bitterness from them.

3. At medium temperature, fry potatoes on both sides in olive oil, then eggplant.

4. To prepare minced meat, grate 2 tomatoes and finely chop the onion.

5. Fry the onion in a saucepan, add minced meat to it and fry it for 7 minutes.

6. Add grated tomatoes, salt, pepper, nutmeg to the pan and pour 2 cups of water.

7. Cook the minced meat for approximately 45 minutes - until all the liquid has evaporated.

8. Once the potatoes, eggplant and minced meat are ready, start filling the baking sheet. Lay a layer of potatoes on the bottom, and a layer of eggplant on top of it. Spread the minced meat over the eggplants. Put another layer of eggplant on top of the minced meat, and again a layer of potatoes on top of the eggplant.

How to cook bechamel with eggs

Dilute the baked milk with water. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Once the butter has melted, add the flour to the pan - while constantly stirring the mixture. Then add the nutmeg and egg yolks to the pan, then - very slowly - pour in the milk.

Add fire. Remove the saucepan from the heat as soon as the mixture boils.

An alternative way to prepare bechamel is to slowly add grated cheese, stir until desired thickness. Then you do not need to sprinkle cheese on top of the casserole.

Pour the prepared béchamel sauce over the top potato layer and sprinkle the grated cheese and breadcrumbs on top.

Preheat the oven and bake at 200 degrees Celsius for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the crust is browned.

Recipe with potatoes and zucchini

It is generally accepted that the composition of moussak necessarily includes eggplant. But this is not a feature of all cuisines. In Romania and Serbia, tomatoes are used instead of eggplant. And in Bulgaria, the moussaka recipe provides for the formation of layers of potatoes and minced meat.

Recipe Ingredients: eggplant - 4 medium, zucchini - 3 medium, potatoes - 2 medium, sweet pepper - 2, onion - 1, tomato - 4-5, garlic - 2 cloves, tomato paste - 1 tbsp. spoon, ground beef - 500 g, seasonings (cumin, nutmeg, salt, pepper, coriander, thyme, oregano), fresh parsley, olive oil, parmesan - 70 g, bread crumbs.

Cooking. Cut the eggplant and zucchini into circles, put in a colander and generously salt. Cover with a lid and press down with a weight to drain the liquid. Leave for 20 minutes. Then fry in olive oil until light brown. Remove excess oil with kitchen paper.

Lightly boil potatoes in uniforms. Peel and cut into circles no more than 5 mm thick. Fry finely chopped onion, chopped peppers (pre-remove the seeds) until soft and slightly brown. Add 1 clove of crushed garlic. Fry ground beef in a pan with butter, seasoning it with spices, pepper and salt.

Make tomato sauce. Peel the tomatoes, cut into small pieces, mix with pasta and 1 clove of garlic. Season to taste and simmer over low heat until thickened.
Mix breadcrumbs with finely chopped parsley, finely grated cheese and spices.

Spread in layers in the form: first - a layer of potatoes, sprinkle with breadcrumbs, then a layer of minced meat, then a layer of eggplant, pour over half the tomato sauce and put the fried onions and peppers, sprinkle with breadcrumbs with herbs and cheese, then a layer of zucchini, pour them with the remaining tomato sauce and sprinkle with cheese.

Bake at 180C for about 30 minutes. Cover with foil for the first 10 minutes. Let cool for 15-20 minutes before serving.

Vegetarian moussaka without eggplant

Moussaka is a terribly high-calorie dish. And at the same time delicious. Those who do not eat meat will love the recipe for a vegetarian casserole. To be exact, this is moussaka without meat, but with eggs and dairy products, that is, moussaka for lacto-ovo-vegetarians.

Recipe Ingredients: carrots - 250 g, celery - 1 root (about 100 g), onions - 2, olive oil, potatoes - 5, green beans - 500 g, rice - 0.5 cups, eggs - 4, milk - 0.5 -0.75 cup.

Making Moussaka for Vegetarians

Finely chop or grate the carrots and celery. Fry in oil until soft with finely chopped onion. Boil in uniforms, peel and grate potatoes on a coarse grater. Boil beans and rice separately. Cut beans into small pieces. Lay in layers in a dish, starting with potatoes.

Make a sauce of milk and eggs, salt and add your favorite spices. You can also make a classic bechamel. Pour over the vegetables (shake the mold a little so that the sauce reaches all the layers).
Bake for 20 minutes at 200 degrees. Cut the cooled moussaka into squares or rectangular pieces. Can be served with sour cream.

When once again I get bored with my entire repertoire of standard family dinners, I point my finger at the sky, choose a country, read about its culinary traditions, find out what they usually cook as everyday food, simplify the recipe as much as possible and adapt it to ours. realities, and then I cook. New, fresh, unconventional and not boring. This time we drew it - and it turned out so great and charming that the family asked me to repeat it the next day, and then again - a day and two later. I doubt that I am ready to cook this dish so often, but the fact that from now on it will become a frequent guest on our table is a fact.

Moussaka is a multi-layered casserole that consists of eggplant, minced meat, bechamel sauce. Sometimes other ingredients are added to the dish - mushrooms, potatoes, zucchini. In one form or another, moussaka is found in many cuisines of the world, however, Greece is considered the birthplace of the recipe.

Ingredients:

500 g minced meat (classic - lamb, I took veal);

3 eggplants;

2 potatoes;

4 tomatoes;

1 st. l. tomato paste;

1 onion;

2-3 cloves of garlic;

150 g mozzarella;

500 ml of milk;

50 g butter;

salt, ground black pepper, nutmeg to taste;

vegetable oil for frying vegetables.

We cut the eggplants into plates, salt a little, leave for 15-20 minutes, then drain the juice, dry slightly and fry in vegetable oil on both sides until golden.

Cut the peeled onion into cubes, fry in vegetable oil until golden.

Fry the minced meat until cooked in another pan, mix with onions, add chopped garlic. Without removing from heat, add tomato paste, and then - peeled and diced tomatoes (I had mashed homemade frozen tomatoes).

We clean the potatoes, boil until tender in salted water, mashed.

We cook bechamel. Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed pan. Pour the flour, mix, wait for a slight change in the color of the flour. Gradually add the milk, a few at a time, stirring each time until smooth. This is the key point: you need to stir the sauce until it is perfectly even, adding milk only after the previous portion is completely combined with the flour mass. At the end, add salt and a pinch of nutmeg.

If for some reason the bechamel didn’t work out for you, don’t be discouraged - just “walk” over it with an immersion blender, it will be great!

In a baking dish, lay out layers of eggplant, mashed potatoes, minced meat, bechamel, three cheese on top.

Bake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Traditional Greek moussaka consists of 3 parts: meat filling, fried vegetables and bechamel sauce. These 3 culinary processes can be done alternately or in parallel with each other (with the second option, you can save time).

The meat layer of moussaka takes longer than the rest to cook; it is somewhat reminiscent of the famous Italian bolognese sauce. To prepare this layer in Greece and the Middle East, lamb is most often used, which can be replaced with beef. Less commonly used is mixed, pork and beef, minced meat.

Peel and cut the onion into small cubes.

Fry until translucent and a light golden hue, using vegetable (preferably olive) oil.

Add minced meat to the fried onion, mix.

Cook over medium heat, stirring and breaking up lumps of minced meat with a spatula.

Simultaneously with the frying of the minced meat, prepare the tomato puree. To do this, blanch (hold for 2 minutes in boiling water) tomatoes, cool under the tap, remove the skin. Coarsely chop the blanched tomatoes and transfer to a blender.

Beat until smooth, rub through a sieve (optional).

Instead of fresh tomatoes in the autumn-winter period, you can use tomato paste or tomatoes canned in their own juice.

Pour the tomato into the pan with the meat, mix. Simmer over low heat for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Meanwhile, cut the eggplant and peeled potatoes into thin slices.

"Blue" put in a deep bowl and sprinkle with salt. For now, set them aside so that they let the juice go, with which the bitterness will go away.

And put the potatoes in hot oil and fry until golden brown over medium-high heat. Put the finished potato slices on thick napkins so that the excess oil is absorbed into the paper.

While the potatoes are fried and the minced meat is languishing, grate the cheese on a coarse grater. Parmesan is used in the classic moussaka recipe, but it can be replaced with another type of hard cheese.

When all the potatoes are fried, return to the eggplant. Drain the brown juice that stands out from them, rinse thoroughly from salt. Fry until golden brown in vegetable oil. When ready, wipe off the oil with paper towels.

Prepare a variation of bechamel sauce. Melt the butter in a frying pan or saucepan.

Pour in the flour, after sifting.

Stir and keep the mixture on fire for a while.

Pour milk in a thin stream, while stirring the mass with a whisk.

Cook the sauce over low heat, stirring until it thickens. Add nutmeg, pepper and salt, stir and remove from heat.

Add grated cheese (about 3 tablespoons), mix. The cheese will melt from the warm sauce.

After 5-7 minutes, when the bechamel has cooled down a bit, beat an egg into it.

Mix. The finished sauce should be homogeneous, without lumps.

Add wine to the almost ready minced meat (optional). While stirring, wait until all alcohol vapors come out. Then add spices and salt. Mix.

Arrange the moussaka ingredients in an ovenproof dish in layers. The first layer is half an eggplant.

Then - half the stuffing.

Cover the potatoes with the remaining meat.

Finish the layers with eggplant slices.

Pour moussaka with white sauce.

And sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake moussaka in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

Serve cooled to room temperature, cut into portions.

Bon appetit!