Mussaka—Eggplant and Lamb Casserole

Meat stuffing:
2 oz. Butter
2 Chopped onions
3 Chopped garlic cloves
1 lb. Ground lean lamb
7 oz. Tomato purée
2 tbsp. Tomato paste
2 tsp. Ground cinnamon
1 tsp. Dried oregano
1 tsp. Sugar
Salt and fresh pepper to taste
1/2 cup Dry red wine
1 pinch Ground clove
1/4 cup Chopped fresh parsley

Sauce:
2 oz. Butter
1/2 cup Flour
2 cups Milk
4 Eggs
9 oz. Ricotta
4 oz. Parmesan
Salt and fresh pepper to taste
1 pinch nutmeg

Preparation:
Peel the eggplant if desired. Slice the eggplant lengthwise, or rounds, into 1/4 inch slices. Place the eggplant in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Leave for 30 minutes. Wash and dry the eggplant slices. Bake or fry the eggplant until lightly browned. If you bake the eggplant, brush with olive oil and bake in a 400 degree F oven. Melt the butter in a frying pan and sauté the onions and garlic until tender.

Add the lamb. Stir over medium heat until the lamb crumbles and loses its pink color. Add the tomato purée, tomato paste, cinnamon, oregano, sugar, salt, wine, clove and pepper and cook until almost all of the liquid is absorbed, approximately 15 minutes. Stir in the parsley and set aside.

Prepare the sauce: Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook, while continuously stirring, for 3 minutes. Add the milk while stirring and cook until it becomes a thick, smooth sauce. Remove the saucepan from the heat and mix in the eggs, cheese and nutmeg.

Assemble the mussaka: Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Oil an oven-proof casserole. Arrange 1/3 of the eggplant slices on the bottom of the dish. Pour 1/2 of the meat over the eggplant. Cover the meat with another 1/3 of the eggplant. Cover the second layer of eggplant with the remainder of the meat. Cover the meat with the rest of the eggplant. Pour the sauce over the casserole. Bake until golden brown, for about 1 hour. (Cover the casserole with aluminum foil if it browns too quickly). Let the mussaka rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Serves 8-10.

Recipe provided by Anthony Dias Blue and GourmetMarket.com.

Tasting Notes—December 1998

Wines
• Bonny Doon 1996 Syrah
• Jaffurs 1996 Syrah
• Matanzas Creek 1996 Chardonnay
• Matanzas Creek 1995 Merlot

Recipes

• Cheese Parcels
• Lamb Kebabs
• Mussaka—Eggplant and Lamb Casserole
• Portobella Mushrooms and Garlic Casserole

Current Tasting Notes
Tasting Notes Archive

 
 
This page created December 1998

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