Moussaka

Moussaka is a traditional Greek dish with layered potato, lamb mince, eggplant and topped with a béchamel sauce. I’ve made a few adaptations here. Firstly, I’m not a big fan of baked potato – so I replaced the potato with… more eggplant!  Secondly, as a Greek dish, this is typically full of garlic and onion… so it’s time to break out the gold ol’ garlic oil. I’m not going to lie, I used a lot of it. Lastly, this is traditionally made with lamb… but where I am right now, lamb isn’t exactly cheap, so I’ve substituted with half pork and half beef to get the right fat content / mildness of flavour.

I focused more on the eating than on the photo taking.

Serves 6-8 (reheats like a dream)

1.5kg beef and pork mince blend

750g truss tomatoes, finely diced

¼ cup garlic oil

1-2 eggplant, thinly sliced

4 spring onions green parts only, finely sliced

5 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbsp dried oregano

¼ cup fresh basil, chopped

¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

Cheese Sauce

500ml lactose-free milk

140g dairy-free margarine (or preferably butter if you can tolerate it)

½ cup GF flour

3 egg yolks

½ cup (50g) grated parmesan

Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Lightly brush eggplant with garlic oil. Add to pan and cook for 3 minutes on each side, or until tender and lightly browned. You will need to cook this in batches and set aside.

Heat a little garlic oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add beef and pork mince and cook, stirring and breaking up lumps, until browned all over. Remove meat from pan and set aside. Add onion to the same pan and cook, stirring, for a few minutes or until softened. Add the meat back to the pot with cinnamon and oregano. Stir to combine, then stir through the tomatoes. Simmer for 5 minutes or until mixture thickens. Add fresh herbs.

Next, prepare the cheese sauce. Heat milk and vegetable spread in a medium saucepan for 4 minutes or until hot. While whisking continuously, gradually add flour until combined, then continue whisking until thickened and mixture bubbles. Remove from heat and set aside for 10 minutes to cool. Whisk in eggs and cheese, then season.

Preheat oven to 180C. Line a large baking dish with greaseproof paper. Layer meat and eggplant in the baking dish, then top with a layer of cheese sauce. Bake for 30 minutes or until browned.