Moussaka with Green Salad and Toasted Pitta

Ingredients

• 800g lamb mince
• 550g Maris Piper potatoes, peeled & sliced into 5mm rounds
• 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 3 medium aubergines, sliced into 5mm rounds
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 200ml red wine
• 200ml water
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• ½ tbsp light brown soft sugar
• 3 heaped tsp dried oregano
• 2 large garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 bay leaves
• Freshly ground salt and pepper, to season
• Bechamel Sauce:
• 450ml whole milk
• 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk (i.e. two yolk total), lightly beaten
• 40g unsalted butter
• 40g plain flour
• 40g parmesan, finely grated
• Whole nutmeg, for grating
• To Serve (if desired):
• 8 Pitta Bread (i.e. 1 per person), toasted
• Green Salad

Method

1. Heat a frying pan over a high heat. Drizzle 4 tbsp of olive oil over the aubergine slices, ensuring they are all fully covered in oil, and fry them in batches (i.e. depending how many you can fit in the pan at any one time) for 5 to 7 minutes, or until they are golden brown and beginning to soften. If the aubergine slices start to look dry during cooking, feel free to add a little more olive oil to the pan. Once cooked, set the aubergine slices to one side on a plate lined with kitchen paper.
2. Heat a large flameproof casserole dish over a medium-high heat, adding 1 tbsp of olive oil to the dish, then frying the lamb mince for 8 to 10 minutes until it is a deep golden brown in colour; make sure that you are stirring the mince regularly and breaking up any chunks of mince that may be present (i.e. with a wooden spoon) whilst cooking. Once cooked, pop the mince into a bowl and set to one side.
3. Next, pop the casserole dish back onto a medium heat, add the remaining olive oil, along with the onion and a pinch of salt, and fry the onion gently for 10 to 12 minutes, or until it becomes soft and translucent. Add the oregano, garlic, cinnamon and bay leaves, then cook for a further minute, before returning the lamb to the pan and adding the red wine. Bring the pan to the boil and simmer gently until the quantity of wine is reduced by half, then stir in the tomatoes, tomato puree, brown sugar and water. Season with freshly ground salt and pepper, then reduce the heat and simmer gently (i.e. without a lid on the casserole dish) for 20 minutes, stirring once every few minutes, until the sauce becomes thick.
4. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C / 400 F / Gas Mark 6.
5. Whilst the lamb is simmering, fill another large pan with lightly salted water and bring it to the boil. Once the water is boiling, add the potato slices to the pan and cook for exactly 6 minutes, then drain them in a colander and leave them in that colander to dry (i.e. they will steam dry) for approximately 10 minutes.
6. Once the lamb mixture is fully cooked, and the sauce has become thick (as described above), turn off the heat and leave until everything else is ready.
7. Now, it’s time to make the bechamel sauce. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, stir in the flour and cook over a medium heat for 1 minute stirring continually throughout. Remove the pan from the heat and use a whisk to incorporate the milk into the mixture, adding a little bit at a time and whisking until smooth. Once all the milk is incorporated and you have a smooth liquid with no lumps, return the pan to the heat and bring to a simmer, cooking for a further 3 minutes. Then, remove the pan from the heat again and whisk in the parmesan, a little grated nutmeg, a little salt and pepper to season, and then finally the full egg plus the egg yolk.
8. Once the aubergine, lamb mixture, potatoes and bechamel sauce are all ready then you are set to assemble your moussaka before popping it into the oven.
9. Take a large rectangular ovenproof dish and spoon a third of the lamb mixture into it, ensuring the mixture is evenly spread across the base of the dish. Next, layer with half the aubergine, then half the potato, again ensuring the layers are evenly spread. Then add the remaining lamb mixture, topping it with the remaining aubergine, and then the remaining potato (i.e. all in even layers as before). Finally pour the bechamel sauce over the top of the whole thing, in an even layer, smoothing it over with a palette knife.
10. Now, pop the dish into the centre of the oven and cook until it is a deep golden brown in colour (approximately 50 minutes). [NB: If it browns too quickly during cooking then cover the top with some kitchen foil for the remainder of the time.]
11. Once cooked, set aside for 10 minutes to cool a little before serving with toasted pitta bread and green salad, if desired.