Zucchini Mussaka Recipes

BEEF MOUSSAKA WITH EGGPLANT & ZUCCHINI

Steps:

• Roast the Veggies • Preheat the oven to 425ºF and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. • Rinse the eggplant and zucchini and slice them into ¼- inch thick rounds. Add them to a medium bowl and toss with 1 tbsp. olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. • Pour the veggies onto the baking sheet and bake until tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. Set the oven to broil. Make the Sauce • While the veggies roast, heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. • Dice the onion and add it to the pan. Cook for 2 minutes. • Add the ground beef and cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally to break up the beef. • Stir in the Greek Spice Mix and tomato sauce. • Simmer until the mixture thickens, about 10-12 minutes. Bake the Moussaka & Pita • Rinse the medium bowl used for the veggies earlier. • Grate the Parmesan and add it to the bowl. • Add the egg and Greek yogurt, and mix well. • Wrap the pita in aluminum foil and set aside. • Transfer the beef mixture into a large baking dish, smoothing the surface with the back of a spoon. • Arrange the roasted eggplant and zucchini slices in an overlapping fashion on top. Pour the egg-yogurt mixture over the veggies, smoothing it evenly. • Broil the moussaka in the oven until the topping has turned golden-brown, about 3-5 minutes. • At the same time, place the foil-wrapped pita directly on an oven rack and bake along with the moussaka. • Watch carefully that nothing burns. Bring It All Together • Carefully remove the moussaka and pita from the oven and let cool slightly before evenly dividing both between two plates to serve!

TRADITIONAL MOUSSAKA RECIPE WITH EGGPLANTS (AUBERGINES) AND POTATOES

Steps:

• To prepare this Greek moussaka recipe, begin by preparing the eggplants. Remove the stalks from the eggplants and cut them into slices, 1 cm thick. Season with salt and place in a colander for about half an hour.
• and squeeze with your hands, to get rid of the excessive water. Pat them dry and fry in plenty of oil, until nicely colored. Place the fried eggplants on some paper, in order to absorb the oil. (For a lighter version of the traditional Greek moussaka try drizzling the aubergines with some olive oil and bake them for 20 minutes instead of frying them). Set aside when done.
• If you are adding potatoes to your moussaka, now its time to slice them into 0.5cm, half a finger width slices. Fry them or bake them in the same way as the eggplants. Season with some salt and set them aside when done.
• for the moussaka. Heat a large pan to medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Stir in the chopped onions and sauté, until softened and slightly colored. Stir in the mince breaking it up with a wooden spoon and sauté. When it starts to brown, add the the garlic and tomato paste and sauté until the garlic starts to soften. Pour in the red wine to deglaze the meat juices and wait to evaporate. Add the tinned tomatoes, the sugar, a pinch of cinnamon, 1 bay leaf and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to the boil then turn the heat down and simmer with the lid on for about 30 minutes or until most of the juices have evaporated. Set aside when done.
• for the moussaka. Use a large pan to melt the butter over low-medium heat. Add the flour whisking continuously to make a paste. Add warmed milk in a steady stream; keep whisking in order to prevent your sauce from getting lumpy. If the sauce still needs to thicken, boil over low heat while continuing to stir. Its consistency should resemble a thick cream.
• Remove the béchamel pan from the stove and stir in the egg yolks, salt, pepper, a pinch of nutmeg and the most of the grated cheese. Reserve some cheese to sprinkle on top! Whisk quickly, in order to prevent the eggs from turning an omelette! Season with salt to taste. Take one spoon full of béchamel and stir it in the meat sauce. Set the béchamel sauce aside.
• Now its time to assemble the moussaka. For this moussaka recipe you will need a large baking dish, approx. 20x30cm / 8x12inch and 8cm/3 inch deep). Butter the bottom and sides of the pan and layer the potatoes first (if you're using them), then half the eggplants. Pour in all of the meat sauce and spread it out evenly. Add a second layer of eggplants, top with all of the béchamel sauce and smooth out with a spatula.
• . Preheat you oven at 180C/350F and bake your musaka for about 60 minutes or until its crust turns light golden brown. Even though it will be really hard to do so, you should wait for the moussaka to cool down and be just warm to the touch before cutting into pieces. This will prevent the béchamel sauce from pouring out when you're cutting your pieces.
• Serve the Moussaka with a refreshing Traditional Greek Salad and enjoy over a glass of wine!

VEGETARIAN MOUSSAKA

Steps:

• Sprinkle eggplant slices with salt and set aside for 30 minutes. Rinse and pat dry.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Rinse and pat eggplant dry. Cook eggplant and zucchini in hot oil until lightly browned on both sides, about 3 minutes per side; remove with a slotted spoon to drain on a paper towel-lined plate, reserving as much oil as possible in the skillet
• Adding more oil to skillet as needed and let it get hot. Cook potato slices in hot oil until browned, 3 to 5 minutes per side; remove with slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel-lined plate, again reserving oil in the skillet.
• Saute onion and garlic in reserved oil until lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Pour in vinegar, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to medium-low; cook until liquid is reduced in volume and thick. Stir in tomatoes, lentils, 1/2 the juice from lentils, oregano and parsley. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 15 minutes.
• Layer about 1/3 of the eggplant, 1/3 of the zucchini, 1/2 the potatoes, 1/2 the onions, and 1/2 the feta into a 13x9-inch baking dish. Pour tomato mixture over vegetables; repeat layering, finishing with a layer of eggplant and zucchini.
• Cover and bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes.
• Stir butter, flour, and milk together in a small saucepan; bring to a slow boil, whisking constantly until thick and smooth. Season with pepper and nutmeg; stir. Remove from heat, cool for 5 minutes, and stir in beaten egg.
• Pour sauce over vegetables and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, for another 25 to 30 minutes.

MOUSSAKA

Steps:

• Lay the slices of eggplant on paper towels, sprinkle lightly with salt, and set aside for 30 minutes to draw out the moisture. Then in a skillet over high heat, heat the olive oil. Quickly fry the eggplant until browned. Set aside on paper towels to drain.
• In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and add the ground beef, salt and pepper to taste, onions, and garlic. After the beef is browned, sprinkle in the cinnamon, nutmeg, fines herbs and parsley. Pour in the tomato sauce and wine, and mix well. Simmer for 20 minutes. Allow to cool, and then stir in beaten egg.
• To make the bechamel sauce, begin by scalding the milk in a saucepan. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Lower heat; gradually pour in the hot milk, whisking constantly until it thickens. Season with salt, and white pepper.
• Arrange a layer of eggplant in a greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Cover eggplant with all of the meat mixture, and then sprinkle 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese over the meat. Cover with remaining eggplant, and sprinkle another 1/2 cup of cheese on top. Pour the bechamel sauce over the top, and sprinkle with the nutmeg. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
• Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

MOUSSAKA RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 F degrees.
• Start by tossing the sliced potatoes and red onion with the olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme and oregano in a medium size bowl.
• Spread them in a single layer on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan.
• Bake for 20 minutes until they begin to soften and turn golden.
• While the potatoes are baking, sweat the eggplant slices by placing on paper towels then sprinkling some salt over each slice. Let them sit like that for about 10 minutes then flip them over and sprinkle with additional salt. After 10 minutes you can soak up any water you may see over the eggplant with paper towels.
• Spread the eggplant slices over the potatoes in a single layer. Drizzle with the olive oil, season with salt, pepper, then sprinkle with the thyme and oregano.
• Place the pan back in the oven and bake for another 20 minutes.
• Once again spread the zucchini slices over the eggplant layer in a single layer, then repeat by drizzling olive oil, seasoning with salt, pepper and sprinkle with the thyme and oregano.
• Bake for another 20 minutes.
• In the meantime, prepare the meat. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion and saute until it softens, for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, just until the garlic becomes aromatic.
• Add the ground meat and using a wooden spoon break it up into small pieces. Cook until it's no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the allspice, Italian seasoning, tomato paste and stir well. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid evaporates. Set aside.
• To make the bechamel sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. As soon as the butter has melted whisk in the flour until it gets fully incorporated into the butter. Start to add the milk slowly. I usually add it in about 4 batches, so add 1/4 of the milk at a time, whisk until all the liquid is absorbed by the flour and repeat until you have whisked in all the milk.
• When the sauce start to bubble, it will be ready to whisk in the pepper and nutmeg.
• Add the egg yolks to the sauce and whisk them in well. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, bring the sauce to a boil again and remove from heat.
• Add about 1/4 of this sauce to the meat mixture and stir.
• Spread the meat filling over the vegetable layers, then pour the bechamel sauce over the meat and smooth it out with a spatula or spoon.
• Bake for another 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
• Remove from the oven and allow it to cool at least 1 hour before cutting it into pieces.
• Garnish with parsley if preferred before serving.

ZUCCHINI MOUSSAKA

Steps:

• Heat oil in large skillet. Add zucchini and onion. Sauté about 3-5 minutes, until the onion is softening. Remove from pan and put in 2 1/2 quart baking dish. Set aside.
• In the same skillet brown the lamb, breaking up large chunks. Drain off grease.
• In small bowl combine tomato sauce, garlic, salt and cinnamon. Add to skillet, Mix well and simmer the mixture a few minutes (about 5.).
• Spread meat mixture over the zucchini. Sprinkle feta cheese and Parmesan evenly over top, covering meat completely. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

ZUCCHINI MOUSSAKA

Steps:

• Lightly butter a 2 quart baking dish. Bring 3 cups water to boil in a large nonstick skillet. Add zucchini, cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until crisp tender. Remove to paper towels to drain.
• Filling: Wipe skillet clean. Add ground beef, onion and garlic. Cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink. Stir in cinnamon, oregano, and salt, then remaining filling ingredients. Cover and simmer 10 minutes, stirring 2 or 3 times as spinach thaws. Stir in tomato sauce. Remove from heat.
• Topping: Melt butter in a 2 quart saucepan. Whisk in flour and cook, stirring 1 to 2 minutes without letting mixture brown. Gradually whisk in milk. Cook, whisking constantly, 4 to 5 minutes until thickened and smooth. Whisk about 1/3 the hot mixture into beaten eggs, then whisk egg mixture into remaining sauce. Remove from heat; stir in nutmeg.
• Heat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. To assemble: Cover bottom of prepared baking dish with half the zucchini slices. Spoon on all the Filling, then cover with remaining zucchini. Pour on Topping and sprinkle with cheese. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until hot and bubbly and top is lightly golden.