Moussaka is Greek dish consisting of Lamb, onion, cheese.
When I made this I soon realised that its very similar to Lasagne without the pasta/beef. Its also like shepards pie except the shepards pie would be topped with mashed potato instead of bechemel sauce.

This recepie will comfortably serve 4 adults

I got a recepie from nigella.com and it was quite a success although I made quite a few changes to it and next time I wont use Aubergine/eggplant, I’ll go with potato as I found them to overpower the rest of the food - sliced potatoe would be much more pleasing. So feel free to replace the eggplant with potato in the recepie.

Main ingredients:
1kg Aubergines (eggplants)
150ml Sunflower or corn oil
2 Medium onions
500g of minced lamb
400g can of chopped tomatoes
¼ teaspoon of ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon of Oregano
Salt and black pepper

Bechemel Sauce ingredients:
65g butter
75g plain flour
600ml of warm milk
25g grated parmesan or grated cheddar cheese
1 egg yolk
salt

Topping ingredients:
50g grated parmesan or grated cheddar cheese
2-4 tablespoons of breadcrumbs

Optional cheats/moneysavers:
Jar of ready made bechamel
Small tub of dried breadcrumbs

How to make:
Top ‘n’ tail and then cut your aubergines into 1cm cubes.
Soak them in a bowl of slightly salted water for 30 minutes and then drain and pat dry.

While the aubergines are soaking, chop your onions finely and set aside. Open your can of tomatoes and set it aside.

Heat almost all of your oil in a deep frying pan until its hot then throw your cubes in and fry them until the oil has all but soaked into them - stirring all the time.
Take them off the heat and set them aside in a bowl lined with kitchen paper.

Take the rest of your oil and put it in your frying pan giving it time to heat a little before throwing in all of your onions.
Only cook them for 2-3 minutes and then add your minced lamb. Fry it on a high heat for 4 minutes or so stirring constantly.

Now add your tomatoes, cinnamon, oregano, salt and pepper and stir well. Lower the heat right down, cover and simmer for around 20 minutes.
What you should be aiming for is a dry-looking mixture, if there is a lot of liquid in your pan then continue cooking without the lid until it evaporates.

That is the main part done.

The bechemel sauce

I will be the first to admit I completely cheated this section by using a jar of ready made sauce that is available from any decent supermarket.

Should you want the agony however, the instructions to make the sauce are listed below.

For the bechamel, melt the butter in a heavy pan over a gentle heat, add the flour gradually and stir briefly until incorporated. Withdraw from the heat and add the warm milk while whisking. Add salt, return to the heat and keep beating for about 8 - 10 minutes until thickens. Take off the heat and add the cheese and then the egg yolk, slowly, and mix well.

Finishing up
Take your aubergine cubes and line the bottom of a medium sized baking dish - give them a good sprinkle with black pepper.
Next spread your meat mixture on top of the aubergines and finally your bechamel on top of the meat.
Sprinkle plenty of grated cheese on top to cover the bechamel and finally add a liberal sprinkle of breadcrumbs and you are all done.

You can now sod off out or go to Wimbledon, whatever.
When you do want to eat your food you need to preheat your oven to gas 4 180°C 350°F and cook your Moussaka for around 50 minutes in the middle of the oven.