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Hall Cook Book

Moussaka

Category: Main Dish / Submtd By: Peggy Hall

Yield: 8 Servings

When i first moved to california, i lived with pam and ernie. I used to cook dinner for them on a regular basis. Pam adores lamb, so i tried to make moussaka. Only i became distracted in the middle of cooking and instead of the 1/2 cup of wine specified in the recipe, i added 2 cups. Then, because the bottle was almost empty, i went ahead and added the rest. Pam raved so much about the moussaka that the extra booze became part of the recipe. -peggy.

Meat Layer:	1/4 Cup Flour
3 Eggplant	3/4 Teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoon Butter	1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1 1/2 Pounds Ground Lamb	2 Cups Milk
1 Medium Onion, Chopped	2 Eggs, Beaten
15 Ounce Can Tomato Sauce	Tomato Sauce:
1/2 To 3 Cups Red Wine, Cabernet	1 Medium Onion, Finely Chopped
-Sauvignon, Merlot, Burgundy	1 Teaspoon Garlic, Minced
1 Tablespoon Parsley, Chopped	1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
2 Teaspoon Salt	2 Cups Tomatoes, Chopped
1/4 Teaspoon Pepper	1/2 Cup Water
1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg	1 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Parmesan Cheese, Grated	1 Teaspoon Dried Basil
2/3 Cup Dry Bread Crumbs	1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
1 Egg, Beaten	1/4 Teaspoon Pepper
White Sauce:	1 Teaspoon Bay Leaf, Crumbled
1/4 Cup Butter	6 Ounces Tomato Paste

NOTE: You can substitute ground beef for the ground lamb, and broth for the red wine.
If you use broth, limit the amount to 1/2 cup.
The more wine/broth used, the more intense the flavor.
But the additional liquid will add time to the reduction.

Meat:
Heat margarine in a large pot until melted.
Cook and stir lamb and onion until lamb is light brown. Drain.
Stir in tomato sauce, wine, parsley, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
Cook uncovered until the liquid is mostly absorbed.
Remove lamb mixture from heat.
Stir in 2/3 cup of the grated parmesan cheese and 1/3 cup of the dry bread crumbs.

Eggplant:
Cut eggplant crosswise into 1/2 inch slices.
Cook slices in a small amount of boiling salted water (1/2 teaspoon salt to 1 cup water) until tender, 5 to 8 minutes.
Drain.

White Sauce:
Heat butter over low heat until melted.
Blend in flour, salt, and nutmeg.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly.
Remove from heat.
Stir in milk.
Heat to boiling, stirring constantly.
Boil and stir 1 minute.
Remove from heat. Gradually stir at least 1/4 of the hot mixture into the beaten eggs.
Blend eggs back into hot mixture in pan.
Set aside.

Butter a 13.5x9x2 inch pyrex baking dish.
Sprinkle the remaining 1/3 cup of dry bread crumbs into the pyrex baking dish.
Arrange half the eggplant slices in the baking dish.
Cover with the lamb mixture.
Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the grated parmesan cheese on top of the lamb mixture and top with the remaining eggplant slices.
Pour the white sauce over the last layer of eggplant and sprinkle with the remaining grated parmesan cheese.
Cook uncovered in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Tomatoe Sauce:
Cook and stir onion and garlic in oil in a 3 quart sauce pan over medium heat until onion is tender.
Add the tomatoes, water, salt, basil, sugar, pepper, and bay leaf.
Heat to boiling, stirring constantly.
Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until thickened.
About 30 minutes.
Remove bay leaf.
Stir in tomato paste.

Let Moussaka stand 20 minutes before serving.
Cut into squares and serve each square with tomato sauce spooned on top.


Per Serving: 666 Cal (55% from Fat, 20% from Protein, 25% from Carb); 30 g Protein; 38 g Tot Fat; 18 g Sat Fat; 14 g Mono Fat; 38 g Carb; 7 g Fiber; 344 mg Calcium; 5 mg Iron; 1525 mg Sodium; 189 mg Cholesterol

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