I call this moussaka because it is egg plant with a white sauce, minced beef layered and baked in the oven, but it is not traditional. Every time I make lasagne or a moussaka I put something else in the minced beef sauce. You cant really go wrong. Also, I add mozzarella to my white sauce, something my mother in law taught me. Either way, here is my combination of ingredients. If you are missing some of the non essential ingredients in this list, no biggy. Cover with lots of cheese and you will have a winner.
I used what they call here in Singapore, pearl aubergine (also known as baby eggplant) as I could not find the normal eggplants so I used 8 of them and sliced them into either 3 or 4 slices based on the size. This recipes serves 6 people.
Ingredients
Eggplant
8 baby eggplants, end removed and sliced into 1 cm thick slices
2 tbsp olive oil
sea salt
Method
Brush the eggplant slices with oil, season with salt and grill either in the oven or on a griddle pan for 6 minutes turning over half way through cooking time.
Minced Beef Sauce
Ingredients
800 g minced beef
1.5 cups grated carrot
1 cup finely chopped onion
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 handfull of fresh basil
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
2 cans of whole tomatoes
1 cup of red wine
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp olive oil
Method
Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion, garlic and carrot for 3 minutes. Add the minced beef and fry for another 3 minutes. Next add your tomato paste and oregano. Stir well. Next add the red wine to deglaze the pot and cook for 5 minutes. Last but not least add your whole tomatoes and season with some salt and black pepper. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour if you have time.
White Sauce
Ingredients
4 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1/4 cup of cream
2 cups milk
1/2 cup of grated mozzarella
salt and pepper to taste
Method
Melt the butter in a pot and add the flour to make the rouge. Add the cream and milk and stir well. Allow this to simmer for a while until it starts to thicken. Once it starts to thicken add the cheese, salt and pepper, stir well and allow to simmer for 5 minutes or until you have a nice thick sauce.
Now the layering!
Start with a layer of eggplant followed by meat sauce and repeat. Last layer only use eggplant and cover with white sauce. Top with a good hand full of grated mozzarella and cheddar and bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 180 degrees Celcius. Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to stand for 10 – 15 minutes before you serve. Enjoy
Cooking with Lindi 