Greek Moussaka: Perfect Food Pairing to Complement the Bold Flavours of Shiraz

Distinctly-flavoured lamb sauce, slow-cooked with caramelised onion, sautéed garlic, sweet cinnamon, and thick tomatoes, is the foundation of this flavoursome Greek Moussaka. Poured over crisp eggplant slices, it is sprinkled with salty Parmesan and covered by creamy cheese sauce, then baked until brown.

INGREDIENTS
500g minced lean lamb
2 eggplants - peeled & cut into ¼-inch thick slices
1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes & paste with mixed herbs
½ cup/125ml Shiraz
3 cups/750ml milk
1 x 100g bag grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup + 1 tbsp/75g plain flour
1 egg yolk
1 large onion - peeled and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves - peeled and minced
1 tsp/1g dried oregano leaves
1 tsp/0.5g dried parsley leaves
½ tsp/1.1g cinnamon ground
¼ tsp/0.5g freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup/100g cubed butter
Olive oil to deep fry and sauté

METHOD
1. Nicely toss the eggplant in a bowl with salt. Transfer to a colander. Set aside.
2. In the meantime, heat 1 tbsp/15ml olive oil in a large cast iron pan or frying pan. Once moderately hot, add the onion and garlic with salt to taste. Give a thorough stir. Caramelise the onion over low heat, stirring occasionally, giving it enough undisturbed time to brown, but not burn. When browned and softened, remove to a small bowl using a skimmer/ slotted spoon.
3. Brown the lamb mince in the same pan. Refer meat lasagna recipe (Method, 2) for detailed directions.
4. Transfer the browned meat and sautéed onion-garlic to a skillet. Sprinkle the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Place on medium heat. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until everything is nice and hot, stirring continuously. Then mix in the oregano and parsley. Finally add the tomatoes and wine. Cover and cook until most of the liquid dries up. Keep aside.
5. Take the butter in a saucepan and place it over low heat. Once melted and foaming, add the flour. Stir continuously. The flour should lose its rawness but not change its white colour. Using a wire whisk, gradually incorporate the milk into the ‘roux’ (Cooked flour and butter). Cook, whisking constantly, until you feel that it is about to reach its desired consistency. (It will thicken further as it cools.)
6. Take the egg yolk in a small bowl and whisk in a couple of spoonfuls of the sauce, to ‘temper’ it. Add to the saucepan with the béchamel sauce. Finally add two-thirds of the cheese. It will melt in the residual heat of the sauce. Season the sauce with salt and pepper. Keep aside.
7. Once the eggplant has ‘sweat’ for 45 minutes, lightly press each slice between layers of folded paper towel(s) to thoroughly drain the vegetable. Keep placing the eggplant slices on a dinner plate. As you do this, also prepare your deep fryer as per the manufacturer’s instructions. Alternately, heat the olive oil in a wok or deep frying pan.
8. If you have a deep fry/ candy thermometer, ensure that the oil temperature is 375°F/ 190°C or slightly more. In case you don’t, drop a small piece of bread into the pan - it should brown slowly, taking a good minute to do so. Fry the slices taking care to not crowd the basket/ wok or the temperature of the fat would drop. If you are using a wok or frypan, usually this would mean frying 3-4 eggplant slices at a time. Allow them to become golden, turning them over once. Letting excess oil drip back, take out the fried vegetable on absorbent paper. Set aside.
9. Preheat your oven to 350°F/ 180°C/ gas mark 4. As it heats, assemble the dish. Grease a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish with cooking spray or melted butter. Arrange a single layer of the eggplant slices over its base. Pour all of the meat mixture, covering the eggplant and level it using a spatula. Sprinkle with half of the remaining Parmesan. Repeat an eggplant layer. Then pour over cheese sauce. Finally use the Parmesan cheese you are left with.
10. Bake for about 45 minutes. Place it under a hot grill for a couple of minutes if not browned enough after baking. Let Greek Moussaka rest for 15 minutes. Serve.

NOTES
1. Applying salt to eggplant slices serves multiple purposes. Most importantly, it draws out a lot of water from the vegetable, ensuring that the dish doesn’t turn out like a ‘soup’. Secondly, some eggplants have an unpleasant flavour - the salt helps reduce that too. Not to forget, the salt is absorbed by the vegetable flesh and seasons it.
2. The eggplant is traditionally fried. For a lighter moussaka, arrange the paper towel-pressed eggplant slices over a cookie sheet, lining a baking tray. Then brush the vegetable with olive oil and sprinkle a little pepper, ground paprika, garlic powder, onion powder & cayenne pepper (Only tiny pinches of the last two). Place under a hot grill and brown the tops. Remove the tray, flip the slices, brush this side with olive oil too, sprinkle the same seasoning and brown. Replace the fried eggplant in the recipe with this grilled version and not only will the result be lower in calorie count, but also more flavourful!
3. If the oil for deep is not as hot as recommended, the eggplant will soak up a lot of oil.