MOUSSAKA

Melbourne has a huge population of Greeks and if I remember right, it has the largest population of Greeks outside of Greece. This is reflected in the numerous Greek restaurants, food products and of course the infamous PRESS CLUB. George Calombaris is the mastermind behind PRESS CLUB and has a huge mainstream following. I've never really given greek food too much of a try so I decided to pick this recipe for our Wednesday dinner. Moussaka is akin to a greek lagsana. Is that sacrilegious? Anyways, heres the low down:

Ingredients:

• 1onion, finely diced
• 2 clovesgarlic, finely diced
• 1 tbsplemon thyme, chopped
• 1 tbsprosemary, chopped
• 300 glamb mince
• 100 gpork mince
• 100 gveal mince
• 2 tbsptomato paste
• 2cinnamon quills
• 250 gcrushed tomatoes
• 2salt, to taste
• 2eggplants, sliced 1 cm thick
• 3medium-sized potatoes, 1cm thick

Bechamel

• 100 gbutter
• 100 gflour
• 3eggs, beaten
• 100 ggrated keflagraviera cheese
• 600 mlmilk

1 Saute diced onion, garlic, lemon thyme and rosemary until soft, add all min and brown.

2 Add tomato paste, cinnamon quills and crushed tomatoes reduce to a low heat and simmer for 1 hour. Season to taste

3 Brush eggplant and potatoes with olive oil and either grill on BBQ or pan fry until tender

4 Melt butter in a heavy based saucepan

5 Add flour, stir on a low heat for 2 minutes

6 Slowly add warm milk, continuously stirring until thick. Cover with lid and allow to cool for 10 minutes

7 Whisk in beaten eggs and kefalograviera cheese, season to taste

5 To assemble: Oil casserole dish and lay eggplant over bottom. Then add a layer of meat sauce. Arrange potato slices over meat sauce then cover with béchamel. Bake in a preheated oven for 45mins at 200°C until golden brown and béchamel has set

This, I agree, is actually quite a feat for a weekday dinner. It is filling, great for a winter dinner. I made two lots and have frozen the other batch. I thought putting cinnamon into a meat meal would be weird but it wasn't horrible. Once in a while, I would get a hint of cinnamon and it was pleasant. I really enjoyed the crispy potato slices and the fact that, the Moussaka actually stays put when you cut it through its layers, make it way less frustrating and surprising! I would definitely repeat this recipe on a weekend and concentrate on my meat sauce because that's everything!!

Sorry for the images, they were taken on my phone late at night, so lighting was pretty crap!!