Kittencal's Greek Moussaka
Being Greek born I have tried my share of moussaka recipes over the years, this is a basic easy recipe I have been making for years and still make often, it has remained a huge family favorite, I have served this many times to guests for a dinner parties and always receive rave reviews! ---the traditional Greek moussaka usually has about 1 teaspoon cinnamon added to the meat mixture, you might want to add it in my family prefers it without --- you may also want to "sweat" the eggplant slices with a bit of salt sprinkled on for 1 hour before using
Reviews
-
I am making this again for the third time right at this very moment for my Greek boyfriend. He loves it! He raves about it! I do add the cinnamon I feel it gives a more authentic taste and I just peel strips off the eggplants(salt and sweat eggplant for one hour as well) and broil to slightly burnt on the edges - this intensifies the flavor and both my boyfriend and I like the slight char taste. I love the simplicity of this recipe because it can be even more complicated. Oh, I do boil potatoes and add a thin layer on top of the eggplant per boyfriend's request the second and third go round. I could take or leave the potato myself but it's not bad. -
I had only made the Craig Claiborne version (from the New York Times cookbook)---rave reviews, but WOW was it complicated! This version tastes even better, and is far, far simpler to assemble. KC, another winner!
-
I like expanding my boyfriend's culinary tastes with out saying anything. That is, I'll make things with ingredients I know he likes with out telling him what is is and where it came from. I made this recipe once and he really loved it, since he loves eggplant. In conversation the other day, he mentioned he didn't like Greek food. I told him the casserole type thing I made with beef, eggplant, and tomatos in a cheese sauce was moussaka, and yes he liked Greek food. I'm making it again. Thanks for helping me show my boyfriend there's more to food life than burgers and pizza!
-
This was great. I've never had moussaka before, but this dish was easy enough to try! I used beef and the cinnamon, and I didn't see the tip about doubling until well after, but I did double and used a 13x9 pan which turned out just fine. Even the picky eaters among my kids loved it. I did add a layer of shredded 3 cheese Italian blend on the top. 35 minutes in the convection oven at 350 was perfect. Thanks so much!
-
This was great. However, "large" eggplant must mean different things to different people. I picked 2 of the biggest ones (total 4 pounds) and a 9X9 pan was way too small... next time I will use about 2.5 pounds. This time I used a 2.5 qt deep casserole dish and doubled the cheese sauce. It is WAY easier to grill the eggplant. I started off in the oven since I had just pulled out the pita but quickly abandoned that and moved to the BBQ, where the slices got brown and dry without sticking and it was much easier to watch and turn!!!!
