How to make
Oven - 360°F (180°C)
A deep, lightly greased baking pan with olive oil.
I have a recipe for an authentic Greek moussaka, with a creamy béchamel, but in a lighter version, as the vegetables are not prepared in advance in a pan, they are not fried. In this recipe, so that it is not so heavy, the vegetables are prepared by roasting them in the oven beforehand.
The vegetables are cleaned, leaving eggplants and zucchini unpeeled. The potatoes are cut into slices. Add one onion cut into slices. Place them in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with thyme, salt and black pepper. Mix with your hands and spread them in a single row in a large greased baking pan. They are roasted at 390°F (200°C) for 20 minutes.
The eggplants are cut into slices without peeling the skin. Place them in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of salt and enough water for about 20 minutes. Strain and dry them on paper towels. They are poured into the same bowl as the potatoes, poured with a drizzle of olive oil, salted with a little salt and sprinkled with thyme and black pepper. Mix.
Arrange them in one row on top of the potatoes in the baking pan and roast them at 390°F (200°C) in the oven for 20 minutes. If you think that they are a little dry, you can easily add another drizzle of olive oil, eggplants love olive oil. Remove and set aside.
The zucchini are cut into slices and placed in the same bowl, salted, sprinkled with thyme, black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Mix. Arrange them in a row on top of the eggplants. They are roasted at 390°F (200°C) in the oven. They are taken out. The vegetables are ready.
In a deep pan with olive oil pour the other finely chopped onion, cut into small cubes, let it caramelize well to a brownish color at a high temperature on the stove. Reduce heat, add 3-4 cloves of minced garlic, stir, add cinnamon, cloves and brown sugar.
Mix very well and add 1 tablespoon of tomato puree. Add the minced meat and get it to a crumbly consistency, by stirring constantly. Season with salt and black pepper, pour the wine, wait for about 1-2 minutes and pour the canned tomatoes. Leave them to simmer over a moderate heat for about an hour, or until they are left in fat. Remove from the heat, remove the cloves.
BECHAMEL
On a moderately heated stove, melt the butter and pour the flour all at once. Mix vigorously until a ball is formed. The lukewarm milk is added in small portions. To get a nice, smooth béchamel, the milk is always added slowly in a thin stream and in small portions and after each addition it is very well stirred until it is completely absorbed, followed by a new portion of milk and so on until you run out.
This slow addition of milk can be more than 10 times. Finally, ground white pepper and nutmeg are added. Stir and add the grated kefalograviera cheese. Remove from the heat, let cool briefly and add the egg yolks, by stirring constantly.
Add 1/3 of the béchamel to the minced meat and mix well and pour it over the vegetables and distribute it. Pour the remaining béchamel on top. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake at 360°F (180°C) for about 30-35 minutes. Remove, cool it for 30 minutes and serve it.
When making the Greek moussaka it is not necessary to peel the eggplants so that they do not fall apart during cooking, but I peel them through a finger length into strips. The zucchini do not need to be peeled, their skin is very fragile.
In Greece, a special seasoning for moussaka is sold in sachets, so I did not add cinnamon powder, but the ready-made spice, but it can be easily replaced with 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon. Cloves are a must.
For greater authenticity of the recipe, all the vegetables are lightly fried beforehand in a pan with olive oil, but that way the moussaka becomes heavy and rather greasy, but this option is lighter and more acceptable to me.
