When traveling in Greece, tourists do not miss the opportunity to get acquainted with local cuisine. Piquant taste Many people like traditional Mediterranean dishes, therefore, returning to their native land, travelers often try to repeat the creations of Greek chefs at home. Among the popular dishes are Greek salad, Dzadziki, Taramasalata and Moussaka in Greek with eggplant, the recipe for which we will present in today's article. After reading the material, you will learn how to prepare the classic Musaka, as well as what variations of this dish are found.

Each restaurant, cafe or tavern in Greece serves the traditional Moussaka - a layered Greek casserole with eggplant, minced meat and creamy sauce... In appearance and cooking technology, it is very similar to Italian lasagna, with the only difference that instead of pasta sheets, the Greeks use vegetables. This dish is also associated with french cuisine, because the casserole is poured famous sauce bechamel.

This combination of European flavors with traditional greek products due to the fact that the creator of Musaka, the chef Nikos Tselemendis, not only loved the national cuisine, but also appreciated the culinary findings of other countries. As a result of the hobbies and experiments of the Greek chef, a classic recipe for the Greek Musaka with eggplants and béchamel sauce was born. Consider detailed composition this original recipe.

Ingredients

It is difficult to surprise modern gourmets, so classic recipes are constantly undergoing changes in the composition of the ingredients or the method of production. We will also look at variations of the Greek casserole, but first, let's look at the original classics.

Traditional Moussaka is made with eggplant and minced lamb. Lamb - a favorite meat of the Greeks, and substitutes for other types meat delicacies will not tolerate. Beef, pork, chicken and turkey are a completely different taste for a Greek dish.

This is how it looks full listcontaining the main ingredients of Musaki:

• Eggplant - 1 kg;
• Minced lamb - 500-700 gr.;
• Onions - 2 pcs.;
• Tomatoes - 3 pcs.;
• Butter olive - 2 tablespoons;
• Cheese - 100 gr.;
• White dry wine - 150 ml.

In addition, you need to stock up on spices and products for making the sauce.

The composition and proportions of spices completely depend on the preferences of the cook. Sometimes the eggplant Moussaka contains only ground pepper, salt and nutmeg. But in most cases, the dish is flavored with a whole mixture of herbs. For rich taste a sprig of cinnamon is added to the minced meat, nutmeg, oregano, lemon zest, bay leaf, salt, red pepper and common ground pepper.

A Greek casserole is topped with béchamel sauce, which will require the following foods:

• Milk - 0.5 l.;
• Butter - 90 gr.;
• Egg - 2 pcs.;
• Cheese - 150 gr;
• Flour - 2 tablespoons

General cooking principles

Cooking Musaki is a rather lengthy process, consisting of several preparatory phases... The table below contains a description of each stage and important notes on cooking technology.

This is how traditional Greek food is prepared. Now let's look at popular recipe variations.

Musaka recipes

In addition to classic way there is a lot of manufacturing delicious variations of this dish... For example, Moussaka with eggplant and potatoes, lean casserole, Moussaka with rice and more than 14 recipes for cooking this dish in the oven. In addition, it is often not lamb or beef that is used as meat, but chicken and pork. And the composition of spices for an appetizer is completely inexhaustible. Chili, cinnamon, garlic, dill and parsley, nutmeg, black pepper - Musaka goes well with everything.

Classic Greek Moussaka with Eggplant and Potatoes

This variation is different from classic dish "Greek Musaka with minced meat and eggplant" only with potatoes. The steps in the process are as follows:

1. Coarsely chop the eggplants, potatoes and tomatoes. Bring the vegetables separately in a frying pan until half cooked.
2. Fry the minced meat, adding a little parsley, salt, garlic, as well as olive oil and pepper.
3. Prepare Bechamel. Fry in butter flour, slowly adding milk (500 ml) to the mixture. Remove the thickened mass from heat and add beaten eggs (2 pcs.) To it, season with nutmeg and stir.
4. Put everything in layers: potatoes, eggplant, minced meat, tomatoes, again eggplant and minced meat. Pour over the sauce and add the grated sprinkle hard cheese (150 gr.). Place in the oven.

Moussaka is baked with potatoes for about 60-80 minutes.

Greek Vegetarian (Lenten) Moussaka

Preparing the classic eggplant Moussaki recipe is a huge portion of calories. If you are a supporter of the lighter and proper nutrition, then you can replace the composition of the products and cook vegetarian musaka.

Required Ingredients:

• carrots (2),
• potatoes (5),
• celery (100g),
• green beans (500g),
• rice (half a glass),
• eggs (4),
• milk (200 ml),
• olive or vegetable oil (50 ml),
• onions (2).

Finely chop the onion, grind the carrots and celery, then put the vegetables in a pan and fry. Rice, beans and potatoes are boiled separately. Cooked beans cut into pieces, and the potatoes are grated on a coarse grater. Prepared products are laid out in a form in layers, which are done in this order:

• potatoes;
• fried vegetables;
• rice;
• beans.

The sauce is made from a mixture of eggs and milk, but let's say classic Bechamel... Vegetarian Musaka is baked for only 20 minutes at a temperature of 180 degrees.

For lean dishes besides rice, beans or carrots, cooks use other vegetables. Therefore, it is not at all uncommon for Musaka with cabbage, bell pepper, pumpkin, green peas etc.

Moussaka in Greek with eggplant and zucchini

Many people like to combine zucchini and eggplant in Musaka, so the dish turns out to be more juicy and rich.

Such a casserole is being prepared with minced meat (meat mixtures of lamb, beef or veal are acceptable), the only difference is in the amount of vegetables. Zucchini is sliced \u200b\u200band cooked in the same way as eggplant, you can even fry vegetables together. The only thing to note is that the zucchini should not be soaked in water or kept in salt, because they will lose their consistency.

Variation with eggplant and rice

Another recipe for people who do not accept meat and high-calorie pastas. With rice, Moussaka is prepared a little differently, so the complete step-by-step instruction cooking.

1. Eggplants (2 pcs.) Are peeled, cut into large chunks and fried. The fried vegetables are spread on paper to allow the glass to have excess oil.
2. Rice (150 gr.) And white beans (300gr.) Boil until tender and mix with each other.
3. Tomatoes (3 pcs.) Are finely chopped and sautéed in a frying pan with spicy herbs (taste).
4. Prepared products are laid out in a mold in the following sequence: eggplants - tomatoes - rice and beans - tomatoes - eggplants. The dish is baked for 30 minutes.

Ready Moussaka is served without sauce, but sprinkled with fresh herbs.

The traditional food is very tasty. greek dish using a multicooker. Thanks to the gentle heating of the Moussaka bowl, the taste becomes more tender.

Ingredients for the dish:

• eggplant - 2 pcs,
• onion - 1 pc,
• minced meat - 500 gr,
• eggs - 2 pcs,
• cheese - 150 gr,
• sour cream - 2 tablespoons,
• flour - 2 tablespoons,
• tomato paste - 1 tbsp,
• butter - 1 tablespoon,
• garlic - 1 clove.

Cooking process

Cut the eggplants into slices and stand for 20 minutes. in a salt bath, dry. Chop the onion and garlic, fry in the "Baking" mode until golden brown. Add the seasoned minced meat to the onion and continue cooking for another 20 minutes. Season the mixture with tomato paste, leave to simmer in the same mode for 10 minutes

During this time, thoroughly mix the grated cheese, eggs and sour cream, achieving a homogeneous thickish mass. Open the bowl, put the eggplants on top of the minced meat and pour the sauce over the dish. Leave to cook for another 20 minutes, until the vegetables are browned.

Moussaka with chicken and eggplant

Just as salads and casseroles are popular and tasty with chicken, so the Greek Musaka goes well with poultry meat. The cooking method is similar to classic recipe, only instead of minced meat, chicken fillet is finely chopped and fried with vegetables. The dish is laid out in layers and poured enough béchamel sauce.

• - Meat selection -

  Usually moussaka is made from minced meat lamb. Classic recipe assumes small minced meat and as young meat as can be found in the farmers' market. However, even Greek chefs no longer dwell on this rule. Their moussaka with a calf or a combination of several types of meat at once does not lose to the traditional one. And one more secret. If you have enough patience, it is better not to grind the meat into minced meat. Textured and voluminous moussaka will make sliced \u200b\u200bon small pieces meat, pre-fried until golden brown.

• - Sauce Disputes -

  Initially, the main thing in moussaka is tomato sauce, which is essentially a tomato puree and added during the frying of meat. Without it, it will not turn out juicy and aromatic enough. However, there is another way to add spice to the dish. If you don't feel like looking for a special tomato sauce for moussaka, regular tomato paste and any red wine will do. It will nourish the meat with shades of appropriate tastes and kill unnecessary sourness. In addition, it is in this combination that it is best to use the traditional bechamel, which will become the final chord of the dish already during baking.

• - The most important ingredient -

  And if moussaka, in principle, can exist without meat and without sauces, there are different variations vegan versions of this dish - it is simply impossible to cook it without eggplant. If your moussaka doesn't have eggplant, you can safely call it lasagna, shepherd's pie or whatever you like. But there is one problem with eggplant - often even the most best fruits give the dish a bitter taste. To prevent this from happening, even before placing in the oven, the eggplants must be properly salted and left for a few minutes. The salt will draw out all the bitterness. And one more trick: when you fry eggplants with vegetables and meat, they absorb all the fat like a sponge. This is why it is better to handle them separately. Namely - put in the oven and lightly bake, and only then put in the moussaka.

• - How to connect? -

  Moussaka are just individual ingredients until they are sealed with béchamel sauce. This delicate creamy nutmeg touch will be the best unifying start to the dish. Departing from conventional recipe of this sauce, the chefs offer in already ready mix for moussaka drive two raw eggs and only after that pour the ingredients with it. Then he'd better bind the moussaka and make it really whole dish... And if you add grated cheese to the bechamel hard varieties, for example, cheddar, you can count on the formation of a dense golden crust from above.

• - Additional Tricks -

  Musaka must not be eaten immediately after being removed from the oven. It is a special pleasure to cut it into regular square pieces. To do this, you need to let it freeze a little after the oven and "grab". And if you follow the present mediterranean traditions, it is worth adding garlic and oregano at the frying stage. Many people add cinnamon as well, but it's worth thinking about it twice as the flavor is too intense.

• - Greek moussaka recipe -

  Ingredients:

  For the sauce:
  500 ml milk
  60 g butter
  60 g flour
  1 tsp nutmeg
  2 eggs
  50 hard cheese

  For moussaka:
  4 tbsp olive oil
  3 medium eggplants
  1 onion
  4 cloves of garlic
  1.5 tsp cinnamon
  1 tsp oregano
  500 lamb
  2 tbsp tomato paste
  150 ml red wine
  1 bunch of parsley

  Preparation:

  Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Cut the eggplants into half-centimeter slices and put them in the oven for 25 minutes, grease them with olive oil and put them on baking paper. While the eggplant is baking, fry the onion until soft, add garlic and cinnamon to it, sprinkle with oregano. Then put the chopped lamb in a skillet and fry until crisp. Add wine and tomato paste and bring to a boil. After the mixture has boiled, reduce heat. Simmer for 40 minutes until the liquid evaporates. Add parsley at the end. While the mixture is cooling, make the béchamel sauce.

  Melt the butter and fry the flour, then slowly add the warmed milk while stirring. Simmer until the sauce thickens. Add the grated cheese and let it melt. Let the sauce cool and beat in the eggs and add the nutmeg. Put a third of your eggplants on a baking sheet, and put a third of the meat on top and pour over the sauce. Repeat layers twice more and bake in the oven for 45 minutes.

A complex recipe for moussaka with Béchamel sauce step by step with a photo.

If someone does not know what moussaka is, although there are probably few such people, then this is a Greek casserole of vegetables and meat, I cook it very often, and I will show you how to make moussaka with Bechamel sauce.

Compared to hot, cold moussaka is neatly divided into portions, easily applied and ... if someone really wants to eat this dish exactly hot, then it can be warmed up.

Servings: 8

• National cuisine: Greek cuisine
• Type of dish: Sauces, Bechamel Sauce
• Complexity of the recipe: Complex recipe

• Prep time: 11 minutes
• Time for preparing: 10 h
• Servings: 10 servings
• Calorie count: 320 kcal
• Occasion: For lunch

Ingredients for 10 servings

• Eggplant - 1000 Grams
• Cinnamon - 1 Tbsp. the spoon
• Olive Oil - 400 Milliliters
• Hard cheese - 120 Grams
• Lamb pulp - 600 Grams
• Onions - 3 Pieces
• Dried oregano - 1 Teaspoon
• Salt - 4 Teaspoons
• Eggs - 3 Pieces
• Ground cinnamon - 1 Teaspoon (For sauce)
• Milk - 800 Milliliters (For the sauce)
• Nutmeg - 1 Pinch (For the sauce)
• Salt - 1 Teaspoon (For the sauce)
• Olive oil - 2 tbsp. spoons (For the sauce)
• Wheat flour - 3 tbsp. spoons (For the sauce)
• Ground black pepper - 1 Teaspoon

Step by step

1. First, we need to cut the eggplants into washers, about 1 cm thick.
2. So that they do not "drink" the oil during frying, we soak them for 15-20 minutes in salted water (2 tsp. Salt from the main ingredients, the rest will go into the meat).
3. While the eggplants are soaked, prepare the sauce. Currently, moussaka is made with Bechamel sauce, but in Crete I was taught how to make moussaka sauce not with butter, but with olive oil. To do this, heat up 2 tbsp. l. olive oil, pour flour into it and, intensively rubbing it, let the mixture "brew". It looks like sour cream curdled from frying. I apologize, I can’t take pictures - I am in a hurry to pour in a thin stream of milk, stirring it all intensively.
4. The resulting sauce should be seasoned with salt, freshly ground black pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg.
5. After stirring, it must be allowed to cool. As you can see, the texture is lumpy and very thick. Afraid of lumps in classic sauce I assure "Béchamel" - the taste of the final dish, when brewed in olive oil, does not affect inhomogeneity, but which one comes out appearance, you will see for yourself soon. At least, from now on, I decided to cook moussaka exclusively with this sauce.
6. Heat olive oil (a lot) over high heat and fry the eggplant on both sides until brown. You will have to add oil from time to time. If you have a lot of olive oil, but short of time, then it is more convenient to fry in several pans. When asked whether it is possible to fry eggplants for a classic moussaka in a deep fryer, the answer is negative (I checked with the cook). It is also impossible to save oil.
7. The eggplants cool down, the sauce cools down, and we peel and chop the onions. The size of the pieces is "not steamed".
8. We pass the lamb through a meat grinder, turning it into minced meat. The meat and onions are fried in the leftover olive oil. The meat should dry out, and the onion should at least become transparent.
9. Add oregano, cinnamon, freshly ground black pepper, salt and wine to the meat, mix well and set to cool a little.
10. We spread the bottom of a deep refractory form with a layer of eggplant.
11. Cut the cheese into small cubes.
12. Add eggs and cheese to the meat, mix everything well.
13. We spread a layer on a layer of eggplant meat filling. General rule for moussaka - it should start and end with a layer of eggplant (sauce is laid on top). Otherwise, the number of layers depends on the number of eggplants and the configuration of the baking dish.
14. The second layer of eggplant has already gone. ..
15. And the second layer of minced meat. .)
16. And, finally, the third, final layer of blue ones! Uff. ..
17. But no, that's not all) Put our sauce on top of the eggplant and evenly level it. We bake in the oven at a temperature of 160 ° C, 45 minutes without ventilation, and then turn on the ventilation and increase the temperature to 180-200 ° C for 10-15 minutes (depending on how much you want to fry the crust). I am a happy person, I have a Russian stove and I cook moussaka in it, in Greece it is also not cooked in ovens.
18. After that, let our moussaka cool down for at least 8 hours. And look, what a beauty it turned out ?! Please note that there are no large bubbles that tend to give regular sauce Bechamel.

When it comes to sauces, bechamel is one of the first to come to mind. All the charm of this traditional French dressing in its sophisticated and delicate taste at the same time. The sauce goes well with almost any product - different varieties meat and fish, mushrooms, vegetables and seafood.

Classic béchamel sauce - step by step recipe

Bechamel cream sauce is quite simple in terms of preparation, but it requires knowledge of some culinary subtleties and adherence to certain technological processes... Following traditional recipe, you can make bechamel for lasagna, spaghetti, cannelloni and other dishes. Do not be afraid of culinary experiments - this magic sauce will help to present the tastes of familiar and familiar products in a new way.

Required Ingredients:

• milk 3.2% fat - 500 ml
• wheat flour - 40 gr.
• butter - 40 gr.
• onion - 1 pc.
• bay leaf - 1 pc.
• salt, pepper and grated nutmeg

Step-by-step instruction

Moussaka with béchamel sauce - a step by step recipe

Greek moussaka is a kind of variation on the theme italian lasagna... Vegetables, rich bolognese and airy bechamel magically add up to a single magnificent ensemble. The dish turns out to be tasty, satisfying, aromatic. In one word - Greek! Of course, preparing such a flaky casserole takes time, but it turns out to be simply divine! Keep in mind that the moussaka should cool slightly before serving. In a company with aromas soaring in the kitchen (including from nutmeg) it will not be easy to wait for this moment, however, cutting a hot dish into beautiful portioned pieces is unlikely to work.

Required Ingredients:

• eggplant - 3 pcs.
• potatoes - 2 pcs.
• white onion - 1 pc.
• garlic - 1 clove
• ground beef - 700 gr.
• tomatoes - 7-8 pcs.
• tomato paste - 120 gr.
• butter - 60 gr.
• flour - 60 gr.
• milk - 450-500 ml
• hard cheese - 300 gr.
• olive oil - 5 tablespoons
• nutmeg
• oregano
• basil
• salt pepper

Step-by-step instruction

On the Internet, the most famous bloggers and sites about making bechamel sauce are Afisha-Food, Anastasia Skripkina, Wikipedia, etc. We invite you to watch a video on how to cook this wonderful sauce at home:

Moussaka Greek (simple recipe)

Moussaka (casserole of potatoes, minced meat and eggplant in béchamel sauce under cheese crust) Is a traditional Greek dish known all over the world. Moussaka does not need a side dish; it is a full-fledged second dish, very satisfying and tasty.

Paul suggests the simplest and quick recipe moussaki - without eggplant, which is difficult or expensive to find in winter. And at the end of the recipe, we will give a link to the traditional greek recipe moussaki with eggplant ( detailed description and video).

Ingredients

for 1 baking sheet (or a large deep baking dish)

• Minced beef - 700 g;
• Milk - 700 ml;
• Cream - 350 g;
• Flour - 4 tablespoons;
• Butter - 50 g;
• Nutmeg - 1 teaspoon
• Potatoes - 600 g;
• Grated cheese - 400 g;
• Tomatoes - 500 g;
• Onions, carrots, salt, black or red spicy pepper, spicy herbs to taste.
• Vegetable oil for greasing a baking sheet and roasting vegetables.

Cooking method

Prepare the meat portion of the moussaka

• Preheat a frying pan with vegetable oil, fry the finely chopped onion (until the first onion smell appears). Salt. Add carrots to it ( coarse grater). After a couple of minutes - chopped tomatoes (cut into small pieces or grate: cut in half, cut to a grater, grate, discard the skin).
• Add minced meat to vegetables, a little water and simmer until minced meat is cooked (a few minutes). Taste, salt to taste, pepper, sprinkle with herbs (you can - basil, oregano, mint or a mixture provencal herbs).

Make white sauce (bechamel)

• Mix a glass of cold milk with flour until smooth.
• Combine the remaining milk, cream and butter in a saucepan. Add nutmeg and salt a little (you can also pepper). Heat, stirring occasionally, until boiling. Simmer for 1 minute.
• As it boils, pour in a thin stream and stirring constantly - flour diluted with milk. As soon as the flour is brewed (the sauce has thickened), turn off the heat.

Collect casserole

• Cut the peeled potatoes into slices (along the potato, approximately 4-5 mm thick). Put on a baking sheet in 1 layer (I have a little more potatoes it turned out, in some places a 2nd layer was formed).
• To lay out ready-made minced meat on potatoes.
• Pour over the sauce.
• Sprinkle with grated cheese.
• Bake in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 40-50 minutes until golden brown.

Enjoy your meal!

Making moussaka in pictures

Stew minced meat in tomato for moussaka Combine flour with cool milk Cook béchamel
Sauce for musk and minced stew in tomato We spread 1 layer of moussaka - potato 2 layer - from minced meat in tomato
Fill everything with sauce Sprinkle with cheese (forms delicious crust) Ready moussaka on a baking sheet

Portion of delicious and simple moussaka!

What sauce can be made from

If you have milk, cream and butter in a different proportion, it's okay. Cream - the same milk, only fatter. And butter is even more heavy creamwhich increase the fat content of the sauce. That is, the composition of the sauce in Paul's recipe is cream and milk, increased fat content. butter.

You can also cook the sauce purely in milk, in milk with butter, or purely in cream. Or sour cream.

The flour in the sauce can be diluted simply with cool water (cool so that there are no lumps that form when the flour comes into contact with the hot liquid).

How to add flour to bechamel

The option of brewing the sauce with diluted flour is convenient. But there are other ways - the flour is fried in butter until browning. And then pour it with milk (cream or sour cream).

And the options for its ingredients.

Alternative options for pouring mousaka sauce

You can not cook the sauce at all, but prepare the filling from a mixture of milk (cream), grated cheese, eggs and spices (nutmeg and pepper). When baked, cheese and eggs will thicken the sauce and it will grab the whole dish well, making a monolithic casserole out of layers.

Proportions: milk and grated cheese - 2 cups each; 2 eggs; pepper, nutmeg - pinch at a time. You don't need to salt a lot, the cheese is already salty.

What vegetables to take for frying in minced meat

It is advisable to take onions (onions, ordinary), this will add pleasant spicy notes to the dish. Quantity: 1 large or 2-3 small onions.

Carrots - 1 medium or 2 small. The presence of carrots is not important, if it is not there, you can do it.

Tomatoes - 4-6 pieces. They are needed for the appearance of a pleasant tomato sourness. The minced meat will be stewed in a tomato. If there are not enough tomatoes, then add another 1-1.5 tablespoons of tomato paste or ketchup. If you rub tomatoes, it will be delicious tomato puree... If cut - nice juicy pieces tomatoes will come across in meat.

Spices - basil, mint, oregano (a pinch of dried) or a mixture of Italian or Provencal herbs (generous pinch). You can put fresh greens in the finished stew of minced meat: basil, parsley, tarragon, mint (chopped green leaves). Only not hot, but somewhat cooled down, so that essential oils herbs did not disappear ahead of time.

Moussaka with eggplant

The recipe for Greek moussaka with eggplants - a detailed description, video of preparation, a photo of the dish, which was made by the readers of the article according to the original recipe. All in all, all it takes to imbue the spirit of this mediterranean food and cook it deliciously.