Cinnamon spiced lamb, grilled aubergine, a rich, cheesy bechamel sauce and fresh mint all layered into a beautiful dish and baked to golden perfection. Serve hot straight out of oven to your family dinner table. Enjoy!
Serves 4
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 45 Minutes
Ingredients
For the lamb-
500g lean lamb mince (We love Pure South)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp garlic, minced
400g can diced organic tomatoes in juice (We love Chantals Organics)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
½ cup Beef Stock (we love Simon Gaults)
½ cup Red Wine (We love Giesen)
2 Tbs fresh parsley – roughly chopped (we love Superb Herb)
2Tbs fresh mint – chopped + some extra for topping (we love Superb Herb)
¼ tsp cinnamon + some extra for the top
For the Cheese Sauce-
75g butter
¼ cup flour
2 cups milk
½ tsp nutmeg
½ cup cheddar cheese – grated (we love Mainland)
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 medium-sized aubergines, ends trimmed
Extra Virgin Olive Oil to brush aubergine slices (we love Olivado)
Extra cheddar cheese for topping
We used a Le Creuset stoneware dish to bake our Moussaka
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C. Grease a large lasagne dish.
- Slice the aubergine into 5mm rounds and brush both sides with olive oil. Grill or pan-fry the slices for 3-4 minutes on until soft and browned. Set aside.
- Heat a dash of olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft. Add lamb mince, breaking up the mince with a spatula as it browns. When the mince is brown, add tomatoes, tomato paste, beef stock, red wine, parsley, mint and cinnamon. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
- While the meat sauce is cooking, make the classic cheese sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in the milk and cook over a low heat until the mixture boils and thickens. Cool for 5 minutes before stirring in the grated cheese and egg.
- To assemble the moussaka, layer the mince, aubergine slices and cheese sauce.Scatter over the cheddar cheese,some extra cinnamon and mint on top.
- Bake in the pre-heated oven for 40-45 minutes until golden brown and bubbling hot. Serve hot, with a simple green salad.
