Moussaka

An american girl makes greek food for a sicilian nonna in northern italy

Nov 23, 2024

This past week, I ventured to Soave, a tiny wine region in Veneto where I’d done my thesis research over the summer. Time moves slowly here – people have their routines, their local coffee shop, their favorite casara (cheese shop), and everyone stops to greet each other on the street. If you’re an outsider, it can feel a bit lonely – these people who have known each other their whole lives, and you’ve just bumped your way in. But, if you’re lucky like I was, – one of them will adopt you and you’ll understand just how warm a people they really are.

In my case, I got welcomed in not just by one person, but also his Sicilian mama, who has cooked for me nearly every day since I’ve been here – pasta with fish and capers or stewed zucchini, polpette, pan-fried chicken cutlets, sausages with potatoes, quiche with fresh herbs, pasta pomodoro with ricotta salata. If she offers you food, you say yes – no questions asked.

Cooking for someone is how I show them I care, and that I’m grateful. So, naturally, I asked nonna if I could take over the kitchen for a day. The result – moussaka.

Inspired in part by my godmother-in-law who used to make this for my mother, and in part by my favorite past-times in Greece, moussaka is the dish I crave in the crisp, cool air of winter. Up here in Soave, you’re just surrounded by rolling hills and vineyards, and you can see the mountaintops dusted with fresh snow. It’s a stick to your ribs sort of food culture up here. So this fried eggplant, layered up with creamy bechamel and a hearty lamb sauce is exactly what the doctor ordered.

MOUSSAKA

Cook Time: 2-3 hours

Serves: 6-8 people

THE INGREDIENTS

Ground lamb and beef / 1 kg, half of each (can just use beef if lamb is difficult to come by)
Olive oil / 1/4 cup
Red or yellow onions / 2 medium-sized, finely sliced
Celery / ~1/4 cup of chopped celery
Carrots / ~1/4 cup of chopped carrots
Garlic / 3-6 cloves, minced
Red wine / ~ a cup of dry red wine
Thyme / ~ 2 tsp
Oregano / ~ 2 tsp
Tomato passata / one jar
Tomato paste / 1-2 TB
Sugar / 1 tsp
Cinnamon stick / 1 stick
Bay leaf / 2 leaves
Allspice / 1.5 tsp
Cloves / 1 tsp
Salt and pepper
________________

Eggplant / 1 kg, cut into thick rounds (approx. 2-3 cm thick)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
_________________
Butter / 120 grams
Flour / 130 grams
Whole Milk / 1 liter
Parmesan cheese / 50-75 grams, finely grated
Nutmeg / 1/2 tsp
Allspice / 1 pinch
Bay leaves / 2 leaves
___________________
Panko bread crumbs / 1/3-2/3 cup

INSTRUCTIONS:

Heat olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Sautee onions, carrots, celery, and garlic until the onions start to soften. Add in ground meat and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the meat starts to brown and then de-glaze the pan with red wine. Stir in your spices, sugar, tomato paste, and passata. Turn down the heat to medium-low and put on the lid. Let it simmer for 30-45 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.

Meanwhile, cut your eggplant into thick rounds and line on a paper towel. Puncture each round with a fork and sprinkle with salt. Let them sit for 15 minutes until some of the moisture is released. Heat a large pan over high heat and add your olive oil. When the olive oil gets hot, fry your eggplant in batches. Flip your eggplant halfway through cooking, until each piece of eggplant is soft to the touch (you should be able to easily pierce the eggplant with a fork) and browned on each side. Add more olive oil as necessary.

Now, make your bechamel. In one small saucepan, add your milk, bay leaves, nutmeg and allspice. Heat over low-medium low heat, stirring often. In another (larger saucepan), melt your butter. Add the flo

ur to the butter and stir vigorously until its forms a thick roux (it should look a bit like a paste). Remove the bay leaves from the milk, and then slowly pour your hot milk and spice mixture into the roux, whisking it vigorously. Continue whisking until mixture is creamy and there are no clumps. Add in your parmesan and continue to stir until a thick cream forms. Season with salt and pepper.

Time to assemble:

Preheat your oven to 180’C.

Generously oil a large casserole dish olive oil. Dust with panko bread crumbs.

Cover the bottom of the pan with one layer of fried eggplant, making sure that there are no gaps between the slices of eggplant. Top with a layer of meat sauce, and then a layer of bechamel. Repeat the layers until you’re out of eggplant. No matter how many layers you end up with, the final layer should be the bechamel. Dust the final bechamel layer with a healthy (i.e. heaping) coat of parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Cook for 40-45 minutes, or until the moussaka starts to brown on top.

Let the moussaka rest for 10 minutes before serving. Can be eaten hot, or is even acceptable luke-warm if you’re bringing it to a potluck. I served this with some hot, crusty bread and high-quality olive oil; a Greek salad; and some olive oil roasted potatoes and lemons (yes, I roasted the lemon wedges too – they get all creamy and caramelized in the oven).

THE PAIRING:

Moussaka x Agiorgitiko

Agiorgitiko is, in my opinion, an unsung hero of the red wine world. Similar to Sangiovese or Merlot, it’s a popular wine varietal of Greece’s Peloponnese. Medium-full-bodied (i.e. well-structured) and dry, Agiorgitiko has hints of black and red fruits (think plums, cherries and blackberries), spices and herbs. It’s perfect for a dish like moussaka so it complements the meatiness and spicy notes of the dish, but holds up against its richness.