Moussaka is an authentic Greek dish but with time it found its way to Israel via Turkey. And thank goodness…
Last night was a special Shabbos! For one we had a guest and the other I made one awesome Moussaka!
This was only the fourth time I had ever made Moussaka so not a lot of practice behind me. Nervous, yes I was somewhat because I have failed twice horribly and the 3rd time was not a dish that I could really rave about. And here I was giving it a go again with a Guest! Brave, very brave! But I had a good feeling…
Now this campaign was a tight one, very tight! I finished at the office late, rushed through to pick up my aunty Lilla and back to City Center. Efi had the job of going to fight for the Challah bread and due to him being a little ill he is a lot slower than usual so this was a really touch a go challenge for him! Alas I am pleased to say that he very proudly walked out of Checkers with the very last Challah bread safely under his arm away from any other Jewish prying hands.
Meanwhile I had arrived home and got cracking in the kitchen immediately as you might know or will soon know, Moussaka is a time consuming dish to prepare! I am going to make it as simple for you as possible as after my 4th attempt I am now confident to prepare this dish at anytime when requested to do so without sweat beads dripping down my forehead!
Ingredients:
2 Aubergine
2 small Onion
1 can Chopped tomato or prepare 4 -5 fresh chopped tomatoes
Tomato paste
Red pepper
Paprika, Baharat, salt & Pepper
½ Tblsp sugar
1 tsp Lemon Juice
Chicken soup
500g Lamb or Beef mince
Flour
2 Eggs
Right, so you need to prepare this dish in sections in order to be successful without getting in over your head. Firstly cut the Aubergine in rings (leave the skin on) and sprinkle salt over and let stand for 1 hour. While you wait for the Aubergine you can prepare everything else. Gently fry some onion, add the meat mince and just cook for really 5 mins, don’t let it dry out cause remember you will be placing it all in a casserole dish in the oven where it will get more time to cook. When the mince has just started turning brown, like 5 mins, season with a ½ Tblsp Paprika, 1 tsp Baharat spice mix, salt and pepper. Remove the mince mix form the pan and place a dish on its own.
Now to prepare the tomato mix. Gently fry the onion, add your chopped red pepper, and chopped tomatoes and gently cook till it just becomes soft. Prepare 3 cups of Chicken soup/stock and add the tin of tomato paste and pour this in the pan with tomato mix and let simmer for a few minutes. Sprinkle the sugar and lemon juice and stir. Pour out this sauce mix into another separate container to use later, a jug worked well for me.
Lastly the Aubergine before the dish goes in the oven, so now is the time to warm the oven to 190C. Rinse the sliced Aubergine under cold water to wash off the excess salt. Have one dish for your eggs and another for the flour. Dip the Aubergine in egg mixture followed by flour mixture and into the pan. Prepare a plate with either brown paper or serviette napkins to soak up any excess oil when the aubergine comes out the pan. I find I need to wipe the pan out with a paper napkin too between each frying session or the left over flour just burns black. This is quite a delicate part of the dish and requires all your attention and everything you need right next to the stove top!
Once each Aubergine has been dipped and cooked you can prepare the assembling in a casserole dish.
A layer of the Aubergine goes at the very bottom on the dish, followed by a layer of the mince meat mixture and that followed by the tomato sauce mix, you should be able to repeat this once again as long as your final layer on top is the tomato sauce mix. Move the dish into the hot oven and bake for approximately 15-20 minutes. I switch on the grill for a further 5 minutes to give that final look. And there is your very easy Kosher Moussaka! Yum!
Serve this with a traditional Israeli salad and you will have guests coming back for more and more and more.
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