Musaka is a multinational dish. It is difficult to talk about its origin, yes, probably, this is of no use. The main thing is that she is loved and revered by everyone. There are really a lot of cooking options, in each country it is cooked in its own way, and always Greek moussaka turns out incomparable.
In fact, it is a vegetable casserole, slightly modified, in which meat, eggplant, cheese and sauce are added. For example, in eastern countries it looks more like an eggplant salad with tomatoes, but in Croatia it can include mushrooms and even noodles. In Bulgarian cooking, the main ingredients are potatoes, minced meat, zucchini, sour cream and cabbage. In Turkey, instead of eggplant, they place zucchini and peas.
Classical moussaka in Greek is necessarily prepared with the addition of eggplants, which give the dish a refined aroma and a unique juicy taste. This recipe was invented by chef Nicholas Celementes back in 1920. But for nutrition, he added minced meat and poured Bechamel sauce on top of it - he borrowed this recipe from French chefs. The result was an unexpected and very tasty dish.
But be that as it may, no one knows the exact date of the “invention” of Moussaki, and is unlikely to find out. According to some reports, this dish is more than three thousand years old. If you open the Arabic cookbook of the 17th century, then you can find a similar recipe called “Maguma” in it.
We will not delve into the history of the famous “vegetable casserole”, but rather tell you how to cook this Mediterranean dish and get indescribable pleasure. To make Greek moussaka really tasty, it is necessary to observe the multilayer structure of this dish.
Moussaka in Greek
This recipe is designed for 10 servings, but if necessary, you can simply reduce or increase the amount of ingredients used in proportion to the number of eaters.
Structure:
- one and a half kilograms of any stuffing;
- three eggplants;
- four fresh peeled tomatoes;
- six medium potatoes;
- large onion head;
- sweet bell pepper;
- three cinnamon sticks;
- 100 gr. red wine;
- feta cheese - 200 gr.;
- spices (spices).
For the preparation of Bechamel sauce:
- half a liter of milk;
- any cheese - 200 gr.;
- sour cream - 50 gr.;
- olive oil - 100 gr.;
- flour - 30 gr.;
- 2 cloves of garlic.
Greek Mousaka: cooking
Wash the eggplant, cut into small circles, salt and leave for half an hour to evaporate excess moisture. Cut fresh potatoes into slices (like eggplant) and fry in olive oil until golden brown. Put the fried potato slices on a baking sheet and add a little salt.
We return to our eggplants. Wipe slices of moisture with a paper towel and fry in oil, then lay them on top of the potatoes. We do the same with bell pepper. Finely chop the onion, sauté, add minced meat to it. When the meat and onions are well fried, pour in half a glass of wine, put spices (you can restrict yourself to ordinary black pepper), cinnamon, chopped feta, shabby tomatoes - everything is stewed for about 10 minutes. Next, put the finished mass on a baking sheet.
Getting to the sauce. Pour olive oil into the pan and gradually pour in the flour, without stopping stirring, bring to the formation of bubbles. Pour the milk very carefully with a thin stream and mix well, preventing lumps from forming (in extreme cases, it can be filtered through a sieve). When the sauce is smooth, add sour cream, chopped garlic, grated cheese, black pepper and salt. After a minute, remove from the stove and pour the layer of meat with the resulting sauce, send it to the oven for about 40 minutes at 180 C. Musaka is delicious in Greek, both hot and cold - please your loved ones with interesting and unusual culinary delights! Enjoy your meal!