Moussaka with Gruyère Cheese

Name: Moussaka with Gruyère Cheese
Ingredients: 2 red onions, roughly chopped; 500 g lean lamb mince; 1 tsp ground cinnamon; 2 tbsp tomato purée; 6 tbsp water; 600 g aubergines, peeled and sliced into 1cm thick rounds and smeared with lemon juice to prevent discolouration; a handful of flat-leaf parsley finely chopped; 100 g Gruyère cheese, thinly sliced; 50 g butter; 50 g butter; 50 g plain flour; 500 ml whole milk; a little grated nutmeg; sea salt and freshly ground black pepper; sea salt and freshly ground black pepper; 2 egg yolks; 2 tbsp crème fraîche

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Marvellous Meals with Mince

By Josceline Dimbleby

Published 2012

About

I tasted my first moussaka in the 1960s at a cheap student restaurant in London, before I had ever been to Greece. Everyone seemed to call it Greek Shepherd’s pie. The variations are infinite; for this personal version I avoid the time-consuming and oil-absorbing frying of the aubergines. Make well in advance and reheat.

Ingredients

2.5 g butter
2 red onions, roughly chopped
500 g

Main course

Method

Heat the butter in a large frying pan over a gentle heat, add the onions and cook until just softened. Add the lamb, increase the heat and dig around with a wooden spoon until the meat has separated and lightly browned. Stir in the cinnamon and some seasoning. Add the tomato purée and water and cook until the water has been absorbed. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Bring a saucepan