I just love eggplant moussaka, it has always been on my top 10 list. I do not cook it too often as it requires frying and this makes the whole the kitchen smelly. However, the last time I cooked it to post here, it was so good my husband – who is the one who cannot stand the frying smell – said “the best ever”, so perhaps I can cook it more often now.
You can skip the frying part, but I cannot say that it will be as delicious. You can at least do the frying in the oven or an air fryer and use less oil. If you choose to fry on the the stove, make sure you fry over high heat, this way the eggplants will soak up less oil.
Besides having to fry the eggplants there is not much a challenge about this recipe.
- Choose slim and long eggplants for this dish if possible. If you find such eggplants all you will need to do is slice them. If you end up with fat belly eggplants make sure to cut them vertically into half before slicing.
- Peel the eggplants in stripes to make them look like they are wearing pijamas. Do not peel all over, or else the eggplants will absorb more oil and become soggy.
- Brine the eggplant. Soak the eggplants in a salty water to get rid of their black water and sour taste. Make sure the water covers the eggplants, if they are footing on the top place a heavy object such as another pot filled with water. Keep the eggplants in the brine for at least half an hour. Then rinse and pat dry them with a paper or kitchen cloth.
- Then fry the eggplants.
- Cook the minced meat. I suggest using ground beef with about 5% fat.
- Then start putting layers as seen in the above picture gallery.
- Cook all together for a short time and serve with fresh chopped parsley garnish.
This Turkish Eggplant Moussaka will go perfectly well with Pilaf next to it together with a Shepherd’s Salad or Cacık will make it perfect.
Enjoy
Eggplant Moussaka
Ingredients
- 4 eggplants thin ones preferred
- 200 grams ground beef
- 2 onions
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tomatoes
- 1-2 green peppers
- 1/2 bunch parsley chopped
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 150 millilitres olive oil to fry
- 50 millilitres olive oil to cook
Instructions
- Using a knife cut off the stems of the eggplants. Peel the eggplants vertically in stripes to look like striped pijamas.
- If the eggplants are too long to fit in a bowl, cut horizontally into half.
- Soak the eggplants in salty water to brine. 1 tablespoon salt will be enough. Keep eggplants in this water for at least 20 minutes to get rid of the bitterness and the black color of eggplants. If necessary put something heavy on top, to press down the eggplants into the water. When time is up, take them out, rinse and pat dry with a paper towel.
- Slice the eggplants to 1,5 cm thick dices.
- Heat the olive oil in a pan slightly. Fry the eggplants over high heat for about 5 minutes. Turn them once in a while, so they are somewhat cooked on all sides. When ready remove from the pan and set aside.
- Add about 4 tablespoons/50 millilitres of olive oil to a skillet.
- Add the chopped onion and sauté until translucent over medium hight.
- Add the crushed garlic and sauté for another minute.
- Cut off the stems and take out the seeds of the peppers. Chop to small pieces. Add to the onions. Sauté for another minute.
- Add the ground beef. Sauté occasionally until the meat first leaves out and then absorbs back its water.
- Then add well chopped tomato and half of the chopped parsley. Season with cumin, salt and ground black pepper and cook for a further 5 minutes. Set aside.
- In a wide but deep pot big enough to have all of them in a single layer, place all the fried eggplants and cover with cooked meat.
- Mix a tablespoon of tomato paste with 300 millilitres warm water and add.
- Cook on stove or in an oven at 190° Celsius for about 30 minutes.
- Garnish with fresh, chopped parsley before serving.
Notes
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