MOUSAKA

General Ingredients

3-4 medium size potatoes

3-4 medium size aubergines

3-4 medium size marrows

For the bolognaise:

1 onion finely chopped

100gr of veggie mince

250ml of tomatoe juice

Oregano, Salt & Pepper

For the Béchamel sauce

¼ cup of sunflower oil

½ cup of flour

2 ½ cups of milk

½ pack of Halloumi cheese grated

PROCEDURE

STEP 1

1.       Peel the potatoes and wash all of your vegetables

2.       In a plastic bowl add ½ cup of vinegar and top it up with water

3.       Cut your vegetables length-wise as illustrated in the picture

4.       Put all the vegetables in the vinegar mixture and allow them to soak for 5 minutes

5.       Remove from the bowl the potatoes and let them dry for a few minutes.

6.       In a deep frying pan add lots of oil and let it heat for 5 minutes. Add as many potatoes as your pan allows you to. As soon as the potatoes rise to the surface of the oil and have a light yellow to brownish colour, remove them and put them in a strainer for a few minutes.

7.       In your oven pan, start putting the potatoes until you have covered the pan.

8.       Follow the same procedure as above for the aubergines and the marrows.

9.       Once all the layers are in the pan, start preparing your bolognaise.

STEP 2

10.   Add a bit of oil in a small pot. As soon as it heats up, add the onion.

11.   Once the onion starts becoming soft and light brownish in colour, add the veggie mince.

12.   Stir it for a few minutes and then add the tomatoe juice and half a cup of water

13.   Add the spices (oregano, salt & pepper) and let it cook for 10-15 minutes

14.    Once the bolognaise is ready, add it in the oven on top of the marrows as per the picture.

 

STEP3

15.   Time to prepare our Béchamel sauce, which will go on top.

16.   In a deep cooking pot, add the oil and let it heat for 5 minutes.

17.   Add the flour and keep on stirring slowly.  The mixture will look like a solid mass

18.   Pour the milk ½ cup each time and stir as fast as you can. The purpose of pouring the milk slowly and the non-stop stir is to avoid the mixture from creating lumps. The sauce must be nice and smooth.

19.   Once you have poured all of the milk, keep on stirring and leave it on the heat for 5 more minutes

20.   Turn off the stove and add ½ of the grated halloumi cheese into the sauce.

21.   Add the Béchamel sauce on top of the bolognaise and add the rest of the grated halloumi.

Turn on your oven at 150^o Celsius and allow it to pre-heat for 15 minutes. Put your mousaka in the oven and cook it for 40-50 minutes or until the top of the Mousaka becomes brown as per the picture.