Turkish-style moussaka
Description
The dish is prepared without unnecessary complications. Moussaka is a favorite dish in Eastern countries. Sometimes it's made with potatoes, carrots, and zucchini. You can use any other hard cheese instead of Parmesan. Moussaka is most often made with lamb mince. However, there is also a vegetarian version, which includes soy meat (as I've already mentioned) or simply stewed vegetables. Tomatoes are a mandatory ingredient. Cook and enjoy. The ready dish can be served at the table.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
Wash the eggplants and slice them into rings. Place them in a colander and sprinkle with salt (1 teaspoon). Let the eggplants sit in the salt for about an hour. Then rinse them thoroughly, dry, brush each piece with olive oil (3-4 tablespoons), arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 20-30 minutes.
- 2
Step 2
Now prepare the filling. Sauté finely chopped onion in a skillet over medium heat for 3–4 minutes. Add chopped (or pressed) garlic and cook the garlic with the onion for another 8–10 minutes, until the onion becomes soft. Then add the ground lamb to the onion and garlic. Cook everything together for 15 minutes, until the meat turns brown. Skim off and discard excess fat from the skillet with a tablespoon. Add white wine, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chopped parsley, sugar, and cinnamon. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes.
- 3
Step 3
Let's move on to the sauce. Melt the butter, add flour to it, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Pour one cup of milk into the saucepan, stir, then add the second cup of milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. As soon as it starts boiling, reduce the heat to low and cook for another 2 minutes. The sauce should thicken to the consistency of low-fat sour cream. Remove from heat, add 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan, nutmeg, a little salt and pepper, and mix well.
- 4
Step 4
Prepare a deep baking dish. Grease it with olive oil. Turkish moussaka is prepared in layers. First, place one layer of eggplant, then add some meat mince on top. Add a second layer, again some mince, and on the third (last) layer of eggplant pour the creamy sauce. Before pouring the sauce, beat an egg into it and mix thoroughly.
- 5
Step 5
Sprinkle the mousaka with grated Parmesan on top. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Your Turkish-style moussaka is ready!