How to cook Greek dishes moussaka. Greek moussaka recipe

26.05.202027.05.2017

Moussaka is called a traditional dish, which is prepared by the inhabitants of the Balkans and the Middle East. It is a casserole made from thin slices of eggplant, which are layered 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 cup grated cheese Parmesan;
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 so that the juice stacks from them, which then needs to be washed off cold water.

2. We clean the potatoes, cut them into the same circles as eggplants, and spread them in an even layer in a greased olive oil saucepan with a thick bottom. 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. bell pepper clean and cut 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 for vegetable oil with minced 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 pour them cream sauce and sprinkled with 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 love to cook in microwave oven, such advice: in this case, we do not fry eggplants, cut into circles, but cut in half, bake in the oven for about 10 minutes and cut into thin plates, which we use when preparing the dish. 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 is a dish similar to borscht. There are also endless disputes about it - what ingredients, in what order, eggplant processing technology, which cuisine belongs to ... I still tend to Greek cuisine. Otherwise, where would this recipe come from in my family of crests-Russians-Moldovans-Jews? Nothing but the influence of the Azov Greeks;)

So, for my moussaka, the following ingredients were needed:

Ground meat:

4 small eggplants

400 gr. homemade minced meat(300 beef, 100 pork)

2 large sweet onions (I used white/pearl onions)

3 large garlic cloves

3 large fleshy tomatoes

green basil

salt,

freshly ground black pepper

olive oil

Sauce:

500 ml milk

50 gr. butter

50 gr. flour

salt,

freshly ground black pepper

nutmeg

First of all, we send blue ones to the oven, they are eggplants. Many advise pricking so that the skin does not burst. But, since we are taking off this skin, it makes no difference to us whether it bursts or not. the photo just shows one eggplant with a burst skin. During the ripening time in the oven, turn them over a couple of times so that they bake evenly everywhere. Take out and let cool.

While the little blue ones are cooling, we cut the onion - I cut it finely, I don’t like large onions in the dish, caramelize it for 5 minutes over low heat in vegetable oil, add chopped garlic - fry for 2 minutes.

Add minced meat and stir well so that the minced meat becomes grains. Speaking of minced meat, in general, we always make moussaka with lamb, but in difficult times, beef and pork go well. For my taste, it's strong for the quality ready meal does not affect. add coarsely chopped tomatoes, chopped greens to the minced meat. I used a mixture of lemongrass basil and clove basil. They give such a strong aroma for a couple that I considered it blasphemous to add anything else. Salt, pepper. Let it simmer for another 5 minutes.

We clean the blue ones, cut into pieces, add to the minced meat. Transfer to a heatproof bowl.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. This is a classic bechamel. We take the butter, melt it in a saucepan, add the flour and actively stir for a couple of minutes so that the flour does not burn and mixes well with the butter. Then add cold milk. Mix vigorously so that there are no lumps. add salt, SSChP and nutmeg on the tip of a knife. Voila, the sauce is ready. If yours is very thick, add milk. And if you like the cheesy taste, add grated parmesan to it.

Pour the prepared minced meat with the sauce.

And put it in the oven for 30 minutes.

Readiness is checked by smell. As soon as it gets to the bedroom, to the husband for a laptop, who immediately comes off his car forums and rushes to the kitchen for his big spoon, then it's ready.

Our family loves a juicy, non-photogenic mash :) And if you like moussaka more, which can be cut and will keep its shape, drain the excess liquid before placing the minced meat in a heat-resistant form. And you will have drier moussaka.

Bon appetit.

The famous Greek casserole moussaka won the hearts of not only the Greeks, but also gourmets around the world. In fact, in Greek, the word μουσακάς sounds like musakAs - with the accent on the last syllable - this is a masculine noun. But its transformed form has firmly entered and taken root in the Russian language. The word itself, together with the original version of the dish, is Arabic. This is a salad of fried vegetables with spices. From the Arabs, the salad and the word got into the cuisines of the Balkan and Mediterranean peoples with some changes and additions.

The dish was cold (musaqqa means "chilled" in Arabic) until the Greeks intervened in the early twentieth century. Rather, one Greek is Nicholas Tselementes, whom grateful compatriots remember and honor to this day. Being a professional chef, Nicholas decided to combine an oriental salad with meat, and pour it all over with French Bechamel sauce. And it turned out to be a great casserole!

That is why Greek moussaka compares favorably with its counterparts from other cuisines of the world. Its additional feature is that the products are laid out in layers. The classic moussaka recipe necessarily contains eggplant, finely chopped lamb meat and Bechamel sauce. French sauce hardens and acquires during the baking process. golden brown which gives the dish an appetizing look. Greek housewives complete the classics with their special secrets by adding a layer boiled potatoes, or a layer of fried zucchini, or both layers together.

Moussaka in Greek. Classic recipe

How to cook Greek moussaka

Greek moussaka recipe

Dish Main course

Cuisine Greek

Preparation time 1 hour

Cooking time 1 hour

Total time 2 hours

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

2 pcs. - Eggplant medium size
1 kg - Minced meat in the original - finely chopped lamb or a mixture of beef with lamb or pork
3 pcs. - Tomatoes medium size (or tomato puree- 200 grams)
1 PC. - Bulb onions medium size
3-4 st. l. - Flour
300 g - Hard cheese
150 g - Butter
600 g - Milk
50 g - Olive oil you can refined sunflower
1 clove - Garlic
100 g - White wine dry (optional)
to taste - Salt
to taste - black pepper
to taste - Marjoram
to taste - Nutmeg

Instructions

moussaka casserole

Wash the eggplant, cut off the stalks and cut into slices with a sharp knife, about one centimeter thick. Lay them out on a board, salt and let stand until they are covered with moisture - about twenty to thirty minutes. This procedure is necessary so that bitterness comes out of them. While the eggplants are standing, you can put the oven on to heat up to 200 degrees and do the meat filling.

Peel and finely chop the onion. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan (you can take sunflower oil) and add onion there. When it is browned, put the minced meat in a pan and fry a little. If instead of minced meat you use low-fat, finely chopped lamb with a knife, then you can get as close as possible to the original. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes and remove the skin from them. Then rub them on a coarse grater (or take ready-made tomato puree) and add to the minced meat with onions. Sometimes the Greeks add some dry white wine, but this is not necessary. Simmer over low heat.

While the meat filling is being prepared, and the eggplants are getting rid of bitterness, you need to prepare the grated cheese. It is useful for bechamel sauce and for the dish itself. Greeks use hard and salty cheese for moussaka - kefalotiri, but you can take any hard cheese like parmesan. Rub it on a coarse grater and divide into three equal parts. The first part will go into the sauce, the second - after the eggplant layer, and the third will come in handy in order to sprinkle the dish on top.

When the minced meat is almost ready, you can add chopped garlic and spices. Nutmeg is added quite a bit, at the tip of a knife, and marjoram - about a quarter of a teaspoon. Salt, pepper lightly and simmer, stirring occasionally until the liquid is completely boiled away.

Remove moisture from the eggplant with a paper towel. You can lightly grease them on both sides with olive oil with a cooking brush. Then carefully place on a wire rack and put in the oven for 3-5 minutes. You can put eggplants on a baking sheet, having previously laid baking paper, but then bake for no more than 3 minutes, and then turn them over and bake for another 2-3 minutes until lightly blushed. You can fry eggplants in a pan, but then you must definitely blot the excess oil with a paper towel. This process will take a little longer.

Grease a deep baking dish with oil (both olive and cream can be used). If the form is without a non-stick coating, then it is better to sprinkle it breadcrumbs so that the casserole does not burn or stick. Gently lay out the eggplants as the first layer so that the bottom is not visible and sprinkle with grated cheese. Then lay out as a second layer meat stuffing and align. Pour the bechamel sauce over the third layer. Spread it evenly over the entire surface and sprinkle the rest of the grated cheese on top. Send to the oven and bake at 180 degrees for 45 minutes.

When done, remove from oven and let cool for 20 minutes. In order for moussaka to be served hot, it takes time for the sauce to thicken a little - otherwise it cannot be cut neatly.

The number of layers can be increased by adding a layer of boiled potatoes, cut into circles and / or fried zucchini, cut in the same way as eggplant. Sometimes zucchini is used instead of eggplant. It is advisable to sprinkle each new layer with grated cheese.

Notes

Moussaka is served both hot and cold as an independent dish. The white Greek wine Retsina perfectly suits it.

Bon appetit! Καλή σας όρεξη!

Musaha - most popular dish in the Balkans, the Middle East and the Caucasus. Greece is considered the homeland. Those who rested in Greece know that this is a puff casserole of eggplant, minced meat, tomatoes and onions. I propose to cook the second dish of Caucasian cuisine, fragrant vegetable sauce with minced meat. It is called musahA, with the accent on the last syllable. This great-grandmother's recipe is at least four generations old. Traditionally, musakh is made from lamb, but the meat component can be anything. Here are links to and to . Today I have minced beef with the addition of lean pork. All family recipes caucasian cuisine - .

Compound:

Minced meat - 1 kg
- 1 kg
Onion - 3 pieces
Carrot - 1 piece
- 2-3 pieces
Hot pepper - optional
Tomatoes - 3-4 pieces
Salt - 1 teaspoon
Ground black pepper - 1/2 teaspoon
Garlic - 4-5 cloves
cilantro, green basil, dill, mint - bunch
Hot water - ½ cup
Vegetable oil - 3-4 tablespoons

How to cook Caucasian Musakha - eggplant sauce with minced meat

Peel the eggplants in strips, cut into circles about 1 cm wide. Put the eggplants in layers in a deep bowl, sprinkling each layer with a pinch of coarse salt. Recently, the probability of eggplant with bitterness is very small, breeders do not eat their bread in vain. I sprinkle salt and squeeze the eggplant to reduce the calorie content of the finished dish. Squeezed eggplant absorbs much less oil when fried.

Cut eggplant and salt

Cut the onion into half rings, grate the carrot.

Fry the vegetables in hot vegetable oil until the onions are transparent and the carrots are soft.

fry vegetables

Add the minced meat to the vegetables, mix and fry until the minced meat brightens.

Add minced meat

Salt, pepper. Bell pepper free from seeds and stalk, cut into strips and add to meat with vegetables, mix and simmer for about 3 minutes.

Add pepper to meat with vegetables

Squeeze the eggplant and fry first in a dry frying pan, then add a little vegetable oil.

fry eggplant

Greens, of course, it is better to take fresh. Cilantro and basil are a must, dill and mint are optional.

cilantro, basil, dill, mint and garlic for moussachi

Dip tomatoes in boiling water for 15 seconds, peel.

peel the tomatoes

Grind tomatoes with herbs and garlic in a blender. To make this fragrant sauce spicier, you can add hot pepper.

Chop greens, garlic and tomatoes in tomato sauce

In a deep bowl with a thick bottom (I have a 4 liter pan), lay out in layers - half the roast, half the eggplant, pour half the tomato sauce and again the remaining roast, eggplant, tomato sauce.

Spread eggplant, meat with vegetables and tomato sauce in layers

Add so many hot water so that the liquid covers the top layer. Bring to a boil and simmer covered over low heat for about 20 minutes until fully cooked. At this stage, you can taste the broth and, if necessary, add salt.

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 you check out the recipe. Greek moussaka so beloved by all tourists. In Greece, moussaka is also served in inexpensive cafes and luxury restaurants. But 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 classical Greek 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 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. And give a special Mediterranean flavor meat dish cinnamon stick and mint. How to cook juicy step by step delicious moussaka? 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 lamb or minced pork and beef;
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.