Moussaka Recipe
Is lasagna really the best or should we give a chance to the unknown? Let’s make this naturally low carb Moussaka recipe and see!
When something gets successful, people want to have more and more of it. In commercial terms, success is measured by how many people bought into the product, be it those Star Wars movies, beauty products or star-studded meals.
Is what we see what we get?
Many of us though, have no idea we need those things or even remotely like them until our interest is spurred towards them. Once the seed of the idea is planted in our mind, it sprouts quite quickly into something that can transform the landscape of our existence.
Ideas that we associate with everyday items, make them much more valuable in our eyes than they really are. Marketing companies are doing a great job at inventing and transmitting those ideas to us, creating a world that doesn’t have more to do with reality than Luke Skywalker has.
The tricky part is that sometimes telling the difference between reality and fiction is as easy as telling the difference between Tatooine and Tataouine. Of course if we are aware of the fact, that Star Wars is a fictional work that was filmed on various locations on Earth, we can separate a non-existent planet from a city, but we are really having a hard time telling a difference if clues for the facts are much more obscure.
Do we really like hot spices?
As success is merely being an idea, once we can convey that message to our target audience, we or -in case we are building a product- our product will be successful. The intriguing thing is that as success being an idea, we don’t really need a proof of its existence more as that’s visible to the naked eye otherwise no one would spend their hard-earned cash on overpriced perfumes and luxury watches.
As much as we readily believe about Jedis or at least pretend to do so for 90 minutes, we happily believe that those models and sport stars on TV really use those things, they advertise and by using those products we may get a bite of that feeling too.
Of course, if a product is really good at solving people’s problems, it helps a lot at adaptation, but we are quite forgiving to things if our social standing is at stake. Afterall, we don’t use hot spices in our dishes because we need them or they bring any benefits to our health or fell in love with them at first try.
What is moussaka?
We use hot spices for the same reason we eat traditional food because we used to them. Moussaka is traditional lasagna of the middle east, hence it has no officially established ingredients or even form as sometimes like in the case of Turkey, it is not even served layered. It has never fully challenged the dominion of Italian lasagna but came quite close to its homeland.
In the 1920s a variant which includes eggplant and a bechamel like custard, spread around Greece. As the country is being a popular holiday destination, the dish quickly gained recognition not just in the alleys of culinary stardom but with the wider population too.
Moussaka spread to many Eastern European countries, considerably changing in the process. Some just swapped the eggplants to a plant more readily available in the country’s climate, but others went as far as changing everything except the layers.
Which moussaka is the real moussaka?
What the wide world may know about Moussaka is most likely about the Greek variant which is amazingly not full of carbs if prepared correctly. Of course, it’s a bit of a hassle making a nice egg only custard instead of just throwing together a flour based Bechamel sauce but if we aren’t after unnecessary carbs then this is the way.
Ingredients
Eggplants
- 2lb / 1kg Eggplants
- 1 tablespoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon / 15ml Oil (NOT extra virgin olive oil)
Base
- ½ cup / 150ml Oil
- 2 Onions (400g) (diced)
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- 3 cloves Garlic (diced)
- 2 lb / 900g Beef (ground)
- 14 oz / 400g Tomatoes (chopped)
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1 Cinnamon stick
- 1 cup / 250ml Red wine
Sauce
- 2 cups / 500ml Milk
- 7 tablespoon / 100g Butter
- 2 Egg yolks
- 3½ oz / 100g Parmesan (grated)
- Salt to taste (cheese is salty!)
How to make moussaka
Eggplants
- Cut a thin slice from the eggplant off so it will stand firmly on the cutting board.
- Slice eggplants about 0.3″ / 0.75cm thick slices.
- Rub salt on both sides of the slices.
- Place the salted slices into a colander or any place where the moisture can drip off the eggplants for about 20 minutes.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange the slices of the eggplant so they don’t overlap much then lightly brush them with oil.
- Bake them in a 450°F / 250°C oven for about 15 minutes.
Base
- Heat oil on high heat and saute the diced onions with the salt until a glassy / translucent look for about 3 – 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and saute until it gets fragrant for about 1 – 2 minutes.
- Mix in the ground meat.
- Cook (brown) the meat until it gets an even color.
- Add diced tomato, bay leaf, cinnamon and red wine.
- On medium heat cook until most of the liquid evaporates for about 30 – 60 minutes.
Sauce
- Bring milk and butter to boil then take it off the heat.
- Beat egg yolks until light yellow then mix a couple of spoonful of milk to the yolk.
- On low heat stir the yolk and the cheese back into the milk.
- It should thicken up like thick cream. Take it off heat and let it cool down.
Assembly
- Place a layer of eggplants onto the bottom of a casserole dish then spread the meat sauce on top.
- Put on the top layer of eggplants and spread the sauce on. Sprinkle some leftover Parmesan on top.
- Place it back into the 450°F / 250°C oven until golden brown spots start to appear on top for about 15 – 20 minutes.
Enjoy!
Moussaka Recipe
Ingredients
Eggplants
- 2 lb / 1kg Eggplants
- 1 tablespoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon / 15ml Oil NOT extra virgin olive oil
Base
- ½ cup / 150ml Oil
- 2 Onions 400g (diced)
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- 3 cloves Garlic diced
- 2 lb / 900g Beef ground
- 14 oz / 400g Tomatoes chopped
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1 Cinnamon stick
- 1 cup / 250ml Red wine
Sauce
- 2 cups / 500ml Milk
- 7 tablespoon / 100g Butter
- 2 Egg yolks
- 3½ oz / 100g Parmesan grated
- Salt to taste cheese is salty!
Instructions
Eggplants
- Cut a thin slice from the eggplant off so it will stand firmly on the cutting board.
- Slice eggplants about 0.3" / 0.75cm thick slices.
- Rub salt on both sides of the slices.
- Place the salted slices into a colander or any place where the moisture can drip off the eggplants for about 20 minutes.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange the slices of the eggplant so they don't overlap much then lightly brush them with oil.
- Bake them in a 450°F / 250°C oven for about 15 minutes.
Base
- Heat oil on high heat and saute the diced onions with the salt until a glassy / translucent look for about 3 - 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and saute until it gets fragrant for about 1 - 2 minutes.
- Mix in the ground meat.
- Cook (brown) the meat until it gets an even color.
- Add diced tomato, bay leaf, cinnamon and red wine.
- On medium heat cook until most of the liquid evaporates for about 30 - 60 minutes.
Sauce
- Bring milk and butter to boil then take it off the heat.
- Beat egg yolks until light yellow then mix a couple of spoonful of milk to the yolk.
- On low heat stir the yolk and the cheese back into the milk.
- It should thicken up like thick cream. Take it off heat and let it cool down.
Assembly
- Place a layer of eggplants onto the bottom of a casserole dish then spread the meat sauce on top.
- Put on the top layer of eggplants and spread the sauce on. Sprinkle some leftover Parmesan on top.
- Place it back into the 450°F / 250°C oven until golden brown spots start to appear on top for about 15 - 20 minutes.
Notes
Pin now, Enjoy later!
