Moussaka for Two

Fresh eggplant straight from my garden went into this moussaka, layered with a creamy Béchamel sauce and authentically seasoned meat sauce. And for convenience, this recipe can be assembled up to 2 days before you need it.

Ingredients:

3 round Italian pink eggplant (or 1 lb any eggplant cut 1/2" thick)

salt 

olive oil

Meat Sauce:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, diced

2 tsps minced garlic

1/2 lb lean ground beef (or lamb)

1 small carrot, shredded

1/4 cup red wine

1 cup canned diced tomatoes

2 tbsps tomato paste

1/2 cup beef broth (or water with dry onion soup mix)

1 bay leaf

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp dry oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/8-1/4 tsp cinnamon

Béchamel Sauce:

2 tbsps butter

3 tbsps flour

1 1/4 cups milk

pinch nutmeg

1/4 cup parmesan

1 egg

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup panko crumbs

As you can see these eggplants are small, maybe the size of a baseball or even a bit smaller. And they have a nice mild taste. Because of their mild taste it is not necessary to draw any bitter taste out with salt as you would with regular eggplant. If you are using regular eggplant take the slices and salt them. Leave for 20 minutes then wipe off and pat dry.

Brush the eggplant slices with olive oil and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 450°F for 15 minutes. Meanwhile start the meat and béchamel sauces.

In a large skillet heat olive oil and add onion. Cook to soften then add garlic. Add the beef and cook until no pink remains. Add the rest of the meat sauce ingredients and bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes to thicken. Remove the bay leaf.

For the béchamel, melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour. Whisk in the milk and heat 2 minutes until thickened. Remove from heat and add nutmeg, parmesan, salt and pepper. Cool 5-10 minutes then add 1 tablespoon to the beaten egg to warm it before whisking it into the sauce.

Place half of the eggplant slices in the bottom of an oiled 1.8L baking dish. Spoon on all of the meat filling. (I hope you remembered to remove the bay leaf)

Add the rest of the eggplant and pour the white sauce on top. Then sprinkle with panko crumbs.

Bake uncovered at 350°F for 35 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

As you can see I left the peel on the eggplant and it was very tender, but you could choose to peel it.

Served here with a nice juicy slice of marinated tomatoes! A pretty perfect meal!

Here's the link to the tomato recipe:

https://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.com/2020/08/amazing-marinated-tomatoes.html