Grilled Vegetable Moussaka ~ With Meat



Rory and Jono were watching a cooking show the other day, saw Moussaka being made and promptly requested that I add it to the menu ... I'm glad they did because this is a delicious discovery !! I found the recipe here but of course, made a couple of changes ...

Ingredients:

3 large eggplant, thin round slices
3 large potatoes, thinly sliced
3 large zucchini, thinly sliced lenthwise
extra-virgin olive oil - for grilled veg
5 tablespoons butter
7 tablespoons whole wheat flour
5 cups milk
1 pinch ground nutmeg
salt to taste
1 egg yolk, beaten
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 kg beef mince (ground beef)
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
large can of diced tomatoes
1 cup crumbled feta cheese



Directions:

Fire up your BBQ. Brush eggplant, potatoes, and zucchini lightly with extra-virgin olive oil. Grill until just tender and golden brown.

Layer potatoes into the bottom of a 9x13 inch glass baking dish. Next layer in the eggplant, followed by the zucchini; set aside.

Preheat oven to 190c/375f. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Gradually add the flour, cook until the flour smells slightly toasted, about 5 minutes. Gradually add in milk, about a cup at a time ... if you haven't worked it out, you're making a white sauce here ! Add nutmeg and salt. Bring to a bare simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 10 minutes.

Place the egg yolk into a bowl, and quickly whisk in 1/4 cup of the white sauce, Quickly stir the egg yolk mixture into the white sauce, mix until smooth, then set aside.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown beef and onion. Stir in the oregano, parsley, tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Turn heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

To assemble, spread the meat mixture over the vegetables, and sprinkle with the feta cheese. Pour the white sauce over the top. Bake moussaka in preheated oven until bubbly and golden brown, about 30 minutes.

3 comments:

Liz M. said...

ok, THAT looks super yummy! will definately have to try this.

Kath said...

I have never fixed a moussaka recipe (I think I 've tried it twice)that I found delicious enough to do the work involved in making it again. This does look delicious, will you make it again? Will stay tuned!

Bonnie said...

Mom ... I will absolutely make this again ! The recipe I used said this version is much lighter than usual because the veggies are grilled ... and I agree.

Plus ... this made TONS ! I got dinner, lunch the next day, and two frozen dinners out of it ! We have eaten one of the frozen ones and it froze/thawed just fine !!