Melissa Clark's Shortcut Moussaka: Made this last night and it is really delicious.

THAt looks terrific and I LOVE moussaka. Mine calls for a bechamel sauce with

eggs AND ricotta cheese for the topping (but no potatoes in the moussaka itself although I know that is a traditional recipe also). The mashed potatoes here are a great idea and I might be caught adding some ricotta to them.
THANKS!!!

 
I'm confused (no surprise there). Isn't this just *Shepard's Pie* now? I thought you

needed the thick béchamel topping for it to be moussaka?

 
I couldn't agree more. It is not moussaka but I have decided that

I'm some kind of food snob. Don't give me spaghetti squash and tell me it's spaghetti. I had my first moussaka in Cyprus and fell in love on the spot. This is not moussaka. sigh

 
Well, don't think shepherd's pie has eggplant! LOL It is called "quick" and as

I said "my" moussaka doesn't have any potatoes. I think the mash provides the fake bechamel? ;o)

 
Try this recipe for a bit of goodness, BUT quick it isn't

MOUSSAKA

3 Medium eggplant, peeled and cut in 1/2" slices
olive oil
3 onions, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2# ground beef or lamb(better!!)
3 TBS tomato paste
1/2 C red wine
1 C bread crumbs
1 C parmesan
1/2 C parsley, chopped
salt/pepper/cinnamon to taste
TOPPING
8 TBS butter
6 TBS flous
4 eggs beaten frothy
4 C milk
2 C ricotta cheese (lo fat OK)

Spray cookie sheet with Pam and bake eggplant at 350 for 20 minutes or until done. Set aside. Brown meat and drain fat. Heat 2 TBS olive oil in pan and cook onions and garlic until golden but no brown. Add browned meat and cook 5 minutes. Combine wine, tomato paste, cinnamon, parsle, salt and pepper. Stir into meat. Simmer gently, stirring frequently until all the liquid is absorbed. Set aside.
Prepare topping by melting butter, whisking in flour. Slowly add hot milk, stirring constantly until thick and smooth. Remove from heat and cool slightly and stir in beaten egg and ricotta.
Grease a lasagna pan (a foil lasagna pan works well--this makes a deep casserole). Sprinkle the bottom with bread crumbs. Arrange alternate layers of eggplant and meat mixture, sprinkling each layer with bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Top with the cheese custard. Bake 1 hour or until top is puffy and golden brown. Cool 20-30 minutes before cutting. Serves 8. This will freeze very well. Cover with saran in contact with the topping and then aluminum foil. Thaw before cooking.

 
Shepherds Pie has no eggplanat?? I just Googled "Shepherds Pie with Eggplant

and several recipes come up from some well known websites. This must fall under what Jacques Pepin said, on the use of recipe: A recipe is a teaching tool, a guide, a point of departure. Follow it exactly the first time you make the dish. As you make it again, you will change it, massage it to fit your own tasted and aesthetic. Eventually it will become your own personal recipe.

 
Well, if you google that, google will answer with that!! LOL I think traditional shepherd's pie is

leftover lamb stew (without eggplant, IME) with a mashed potato topping.
And that is sort of like the moussaka recipe that started this==it's a takeoff point, but with at least the "feeling" of moussaka, IMO. ;o)

 
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