blue artichoke

Sometimes I'm inspired to try a new country or experiment with new ingredients and flavors. Sometimes I'm not. This week I wanted comfort food, familiar and hardy. So, moussaka, which is Greek. I love moussaka, particularly the moussaka at the International Cafe, a local restaurant. I've tried many recipes, but this is the closest I've come to duplicating that recipe. This one is also the closest to a traditional moussaka as I've made: a bottom layer of sliced eggplants, topped with a layer of ground beef or lamb (I used beef) sauteed with onions, garlic, tomatoes, oregano, thyme and a bay leaf, and spiced with cinnamon, allspice and pepper, and topped with a layer of cheesy béchamel. This recipe included mint jelly or fresh mint; I used dried mint. Other variations I've made have included potatoes and zucchini; those are good, no doubt, but not the moussaka I seek. This one is. It is sort of time consuming to make, as the eggplant and ground beef are fully cooked before layering, but it's no more difficult than making a lasagna. Try it. You'll see.

Moussaka

3 medium eggplants, peeled and sliced ½-inch thick
Olive oil
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons flour
3 cups milk
2 eggs plus 1 yolk, well beaten
Fresh nutmeg, to taste
1 pound ground beef or lamb
1 onion, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
8 ounces tomato sauce
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon fresh parsley
2 tablespoons mint jelly or fresh mint
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 cup dry bread crumbs
2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
2 tablespoon pecorino cheese

Salt the eggplant slices generously and drain in a colander for one hour while making béchamel and meat sauce. Rinse eggplant and sauté in olive oil on both sides until brown. Drain on paper towels.

For the béchamel sauce: In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter with flour. Whisk until well blended and add milk. Gently bring to a boil, stirring, and simmer two minutes. Whisk a cup of this mixture into eggs and yolk. Whisk the egg mixture back into the white sauce and bring up to a gentle simmer, whisking until thick. Do not boil. Add nutmeg. Let cool. It will be thick. This can be prepared a day ahead and refrigerated.

For the meat sauce: Brown meat in heavy frying pan with a little olive oil. Drain grease, add onion and sauté until soft. Add garlic, sauté 30 seconds and add tomato sauce, seasonings and mint jelly. Simmer gently until quite thick. This can be prepared three days ahead and refrigerated.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Assemble: Line bottom of 9-by-13-inch pan completely with eggplant. Spread ½ of meat mixture on top. Spread 1/3 of béchamel over meat. Sprinkle with 1 cup cheese, 1/3 cup of crumbs. Repeat layers. Then put in the remaining eggplant, white sauce and crumbs. Cover and bake one hour, uncover and bake until browned and bubbly. Serve with a light green salad.

This recipe freezes well.