Serves 6, oven at 200°C, takes 2–3 hours overall
From BBC Food and the Hairy Bikers
https://www.bbc.com/food/recipes/moussaka_01004
500g lamb mince (original recipe had 750g)
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp oregano
1½ tsp mint
1 bay leaf
1 stick cinnamon
1 tbsp plain flour
200ml red wine
400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 aubergines
1 tbsp sea salt
Olive oil
500g Maris Piper potatoes
400ml milk
50g margarine
50g flour
Parmesan cheese
Nutmeg
1 beaten egg
Chop onion and garlic then fry in a large heavy-based pan. Add mince, oregano, mint, bay, and cinnamon and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in flour, add salt and pepper. Add wine, tomatoes, and tomato purée and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Cut aubergines into 5mm slices, place in colander, sprinkle with the salt, and leave for 10 minutes. Rinse under cold running water and pat dry with a clean tea towel. Heat some of the oil in a large heavy-based frying pan and fry the aubergine slices for a couple of minutes on each side, adding more oil when necessary. Set aside to drain on kitchen paper.
Thinly slice the potatoes and cook in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander under running water until cold.
Make the white sauce, grating in Parmesan and nutmeg. Allow to cool and then stir in the beaten egg.
Build the moussaka: one third of the meat sauce; one third of the potatoes; one third of the aubergines; repeat twice. These don’t need to be complete layers, just roughly arranged. Pour over the white sauce to cover everything and sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake for 35–45 minutes at 200°C. Serve with green salad.
