Mousaka

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

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