Mousaka

Name: Mousaka
Yield: Serves 6–8
Cuisine: Greek
Ingredients: 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 700 g/1 lb 9 oz/3½ cups minced/ground beef; 30–45 ml/2–3 tbsp olive oil; 350 g/12 oz (1–2) onions, chopped; 1 red bell pepper, cored and sliced into small cubes; 1 small cinnamon stick (optional); 600 g/1 lb 6 oz fresh tomatoes, chopped or 400 g/14 oz canned chopped tomatoes; 150 ml/¼ pint/⅔ cup hot water; handful of chopped fresh parsley; pinch of allspice (optional); 2.5 ml/½ tsp sugar; 90 g/3½ oz/¾ cup plain/all-purpose flour; 600 ml/1 pint/2½ cups warm milk; 75 g/3 oz/6 tbsp butter; salt and ground white pepper; 4–5 aubergines/eggplants, about 1.6 kg/3½ lb; at least 250 ml/8 fl oz/1 cup sunflower or corn oil; salt and ground black pepper; 75 g/3 oz/¾ cup grated kefalotyri, Parmesan or Cheddar cheese; 15 ml/1 tbsp dried oregano; 40 g/1½ oz/⅓ cup grated graviera kritis, Cheddar or Parmesan cheese; 1 egg, lightly beaten

Preparation info

Serves
6–8

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Food & Cooking of Greece

By Rena Salaman

Published 2023

About

Mousaka is synonymous with summer and celebration in Greece, appearing on sunlit Sundays for lunch or on saints’ days. It’s also one of the most popular and recognizable Greek dishes. For a delicious mousaka, the aubergines have to be fried first. Some people skip this step for health reasons and instead dip the aubergine slices in olive oil or brush them with it and bake them in the oven for about 30–40 minutes until cooked, but this does not produce such good results.

It’s also im

Ingredients

Europe
Greece
Lunch
Summer
Mediterranean

Ingredients

Method