Moussaka is a popular dish in the Balkans and the Middle East. It is a layered casserole of vegetables and minced meat with creamy sauce. The vegetable base of moussaka is usually eggplant, but sometimes it is prepared with other vegetables, such as zucchini. Moussaka with zucchini can be of two types. One option suggests that zucchini completely replaces eggplant, thereby becoming the main ingredient. In other versions, they only complement the eggplants, creating a harmonious combination with them. Both options are good and deserve to be included in the daily diet, especially during the vegetable harvest season.
Greek dish moussaka: classic Greek recipe
Moussaka, as mentioned earlier, is a very popular Greek dish, which is usually prepared from vegetables, most often eggplants and minced meat with a delicious bechamel sauce.
Since moussaka was initially considered an exclusively Greek dish, we will begin preparing the delicacy according to the classic recipe.
So, we will need the following products:
We will also prepare a sauce, it will require the following ingredients:
Now that all the ingredients are prepared, you can begin the process of preparing the dish itself.
While the minced meat and vegetables are cooking, let's make the sauce.
Let's assemble our dish:
Greek dish
Recipe:
This recipe is very similar to the previous one, however, it contains other vegetables. So, let's see how quickly and easily you can prepare moussaka in Bulgarian style.
We will need the following products:
Moussaka with meat and vegetables
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Source
Preparation
Boil the potatoes in their jackets, cool, remove the skins and cut into thin slices. Cut the zucchini lengthwise into long strips.
Fry the zucchini in vegetable oil until golden brown on each side. Place them on paper towels to remove excess oil.
Prepare the remaining vegetables: chop the onion, peel and seed the tomatoes, chop the pulp.
Fry the onion in olive oil until golden brown. Then add the meat to the pan and cook until half cooked, stirring occasionally.
Place the tomatoes and spices in the pan, pour in the wine. Salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until liquid evaporates, about 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. To do this, melt the butter in a small saucepan and stir in the flour. Pour warm milk in small portions, stirring the mixture thoroughly, and cook until the consistency of thick sour cream. Remove the sauce from the heat, add chopped nuts, grated cheese and eggs. Stir until smooth.
Grease the mold with oil, place half the zucchini and potato circles, then the minced meat, and then the remaining zucchini.
Pour the sauce over the casserole, spreading it evenly over the entire surface. Place in an oven preheated to 180 degrees and bake until golden brown, about 45 minutes.
Moussaka with zucchini turns out surprisingly tender and juicy. I advise you to decorate it with greenery: it will add a touch of freshness and a unique aroma. I am sure that every member of the household will ask for more of this hearty, flavorful dish. Be sure to delight everyone with this Greek version of lasagna and don't forget to bookmark the recipe!
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Greek moussaka with eggplant and zucchini
For my taste, moussaka is the most summer country dish, albeit a little foreign. All ingredients ripen in our garden beds and are just asking to be served on the table. In essence, it’s the same vegetable casserole, but you can safely, when serving it, call it “moussaka” with a southern flair.
Moussaka You can cook it with just eggplants, but this time I wanted to use zucchini too. Moreover, it is not forbidden))
So, for cooking we need:
Moussaka with potatoes and zucchini
Originating in Greece, moussaka has become a truly international dish. There are similar dishes in Bulgarian, Moldavian, and in the cuisines of other peoples historically or geographically associated with Greece. Each moussaka is based on fresh vegetables, meat and cheese, but the set of vegetables can be very different. This time I suggest you prepare moussaka with eggplant, potatoes and zucchini. This set of vegetables is more typical of Bulgarian moussaka than Greek, but in Greece they also prepare and love such moussaka. Personally, I prefer to cook moussaka only with eggplants, but I must admit that moussaka with potatoes turns out to be more substantial, more satisfying, and even those who don’t really like eggplants eat it in this configuration. Try it!
Moussaka is usually prepared with beef, lamb or mixed minced beef and pork. As for my preferences, if I cook moussaka only with eggplants and without potatoes, I try to cook it with lamb, and if moussaka with potatoes, I prefer to cook it with mixed minced meat or with beef, because, in my opinion, potatoes and lamb don't taste very well together. Greek kefalotyri cheese is ideal for making moussaka, but you can cook it with Parmesan and other hard cheese. Traditionally, moussaka is topped with bechamel sauce. It was with this sauce that I prepared it this time, but personally I prefer to pour yoghurt sauce over the moussaka. It is easier to prepare and, in my opinion, tastier. You will find the recipe and technology for preparing such a sauce in the recipe for Greek moussaka. I will give an approximate consumption of products. You should not adhere to it very strictly.
PREPARATION:
Cut the eggplants lengthwise into slices or crosswise into circles. The thickness of the pieces should be no more than 1 cm. Place the eggplants in a colander, sprinkling with salt. Cover the eggplants with a plate, place a weight on top and leave for at least 30 minutes, preferably 1-2 hours. Drain off the juice, rinse the eggplants and dry on paper towels. Next, we will need to fry the eggplants in olive oil. As you know, eggplants absorb oil very actively when fried. To prevent the eggplants from being very greasy after frying, I first coat them with oil using a brush, and then fry them, but with a minimum amount of fat.
Fry the eggplants on both sides until cooked. There is no need to fry it too much. It is very important not to dry out the eggplants when frying. Place the fried eggplants on paper towels to remove excess fat. Cut the potatoes into slices no more than 1 cm thick. Fry in olive oil until almost fully cooked. There is no need to fry the potatoes too much to achieve a crust. It is enough to fry the potato slices on one side. Place fried potatoes on paper towels to remove excess fat. Cut the zucchini lengthwise into slices about 1 cm thick. Fry on both sides in olive oil until almost fully cooked. Place fried squash on paper towels to remove excess fat. Cut the onion into small cubes and fry in olive oil until transparent. Don't fry the onions too much. Add finely chopped garlic to the lightly fried onion and fry everything together for literally 1-2 minutes. Place minced meat in a frying pan. When frying the minced meat, stir constantly - rub it with a spoon so that it does not fry in one piece. Fry with constant stirring until light brown. When the meat juice has almost completely evaporated, add chopped tomatoes and tomato paste to the pan. Mix everything thoroughly and pour in white wine.
You can add as much wine as you deem necessary and acceptable. I usually add wine so that its level is just below the level of the minced meat. Simmer the meat in wine until the liquid has almost completely evaporated. Salt, add red pepper, oregano. In order to pick up the remaining liquid in the minced meat, add 1-2 tablespoons of small bread crumbs.
If you, like me, prefer a pasty meat sauce, then transfer the fried minced meat to a blender and puree to the desired consistency.
However, I want to note that this procedure is not mandatory, and you can skip it. For the béchamel sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and fry until the flour comes together (literally 3-4 minutes). Next, you will need to add milk to the fried flour.
To ensure that you end up with a smooth, lump-free sauce, add warm or even hot milk instead of cold. Do not add all the milk at once. Add a little milk and stir until the flour and milk are combined. When the added portion of milk is absorbed, add a little more milk, until it is completely absorbed while stirring, then add another portion and so on until you have added all the milk. At the very end, add salt, pepper and, if desired, a little nutmeg. In order to get rid of the slightest lumps, beat the milk-flour mixture with a broom. Next, we will need to thicken the resulting mixture, giving it the consistency of a sauce. To do this, place the saucepan with the mixture on low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened (about 5-7 minutes). Do not let the sauce boil. You should end up with a sauce that has a consistency similar to condensed milk. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the sauce cool slightly. Lightly beat the eggs with a fork and, while stirring vigorously with a broom, stir into the sauce.
Ultimately, you should end up with a homogeneous, thin pouring sauce, reminiscent of mayonnaise in consistency. Grease a baking dish with oil. Place the first layer of fried potato circles. Lay out in one layer and with a slight overlap. Compact the laid out layer of potatoes by gently pressing on top with your hands. Salt, sprinkle with red pepper and oregano. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that when collecting moussaka, it is very important to constantly press and compact the vegetable layers with your hands. Do this gently, with slight pressure, to compact, but not to disturb or push through what was laid out earlier. And a few more words about cheese. There are no hard and fast rules about which layers should be sprinkled with grated cheese and in what quantity. You can sprinkle it on each layer, you can sprinkle it only on the eggplants, you can sprinkle it thickly or sparsely... it all depends on your taste preferences. Place a layer of eggplant on a layer of potatoes, salt, pepper, and sprinkle with grated cheese.
Place a layer of fried zucchini on top.
Pepper, salt, compact the vegetable layer with your hands. Place the next layer of meat sauce.
Flatten and sprinkle with cheese. Then again a layer of eggplant, cheese, a layer of zucchini, meat sauce. Flatten again and sprinkle with cheese. Place tomato on top of the mug and sprinkle with cheese.
Pour the bechamel sauce over the moussaka and smooth it out. Sprinkle grated cheese on top.
Bake in an oven preheated to 200°C until golden brown (about 40 minutes). Remove the moussaka from the oven and let sit for 20 minutes. After this, it can be cut and served. Well, according to Greek canons, moussaka should be served with feta cheese, green salad, such as romaine, large grain bread and, of course, Greek red wine.
Enjoy your meal!
