Moussaka reminds me of one of the most romantic times in my life, and yet it’s not something I make – at all, in fact this is the first time for me.
Let me set the Moussaka context;
Many moons ago, pre marriage, children and mortgage, my lovely boyfriend (now husband) decided to set off on a last minute holiday.
Times had been tough. I’d been working for nearly a year as chief pie production manager (I kid you not) in a pie factory nestled in the Northamptonshire town of Wellingborough.
Meat pies, pork pies, any kind of pie you can imagine. I would arrive to work at ungodly hours to prepare the nations pie orders for the day. Mostly, I smelt of pie, was pie eyed from scale, volume and pace and disillusioned with my career choices.
I guess you’d expect this post to contain a pie recipe, but no. I’m focusing on and thinking about the things that helped me survive that period.
Whilst the job was awful, as always in these kind of places, the characters that coexisted and worked alongside me where like shiny hidden gems. Hidden from daylight hours, shining from inside the factory walls, lives full of stories and side splitting humour. True and genuine working class characters. I made a friend for life in that factory. Regina Djamasi. A Ghanaian warrior with a heart the size of Northamptonshire, a faith bigger than anything I’ve ever experienced and a laugh that could bring the walls down.
Gina, as she like to be called, had a habit of giving me that wide eyed side look if I was off track. When I told her I was leaving, I received that look. I don’t think she ever forgave me for bailing out of the steak and ale top crust pie promotion we were frantically trying and failing to keep up with, but she did stand by me. Gina deserves a post all of her own, and I will write one, but this one is for my husband.
He was the one who convinced me to sack it all off with no planning, no job, no carefully crafted plans for the future and helped me break free. He had faith that it would all come good, but first he said, you have to change your environment in order to see clearly.
With his wise words we booked a last minute and ran away to Kefalonia, one of the many beautiful sun brushed islands of Greece.
With no plans for the future, I truly let life’s baggage go. I cleared my brain of schedules, deadlines and existed for one perfect week in the moment with the man of my dreams.
That feeling of liberation I now associate with sitting at a table on the breath-taking Trapazaki beach. The sun setting across the ink-stained Ionian Sea, the breeze still warm, small lights twinkling in the surrounding hills, laughing, in love whilst eating a mouth-watering Moussaka. Happiness personified.
It’s Saturday evening here in Rye, East Sussex with a marriage, a mortgage, two children and 16 years down the line, eating Moussaka Moussaka – I have to name it twice as the memories are as good as it tastes x 2!
- For the meat base:
- Olive oil
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 500g lean lamb mince
- 200ml good red wine
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 400g can chopped tomatoes
- Pinch of caster sugar
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2-3 large aubergines, thickly sliced
- For the Béchamel sauce:
- 75g butter
- 75g plain flour
- 500ml milk
- 1 large organic egg yolk
- 100g Parmesan, grated
- 75g grated cheddar cheese
- Grated nutmeg
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan180°C/gas 6.
- Heat a splash of oil in a large pan, add the onion and fry on a low heat for 5 minutes, stirring, until soft.
- Add the garlic and cumin and fry for 1 minute. Add the purée and fry for 1 more minute.
- Add the lamb, turning up the heat and fry for around 5- 8 minutes until browned all over. Pour away any excess oil.
- Add the wine and cinnamon, slowly simmer for a few minutes
- Add the tomatoes, 100ml water, the sugar and oregano. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thick.
- Check the flavour and season.
- Meanwhile, brush the aubergine with olive oil and season. Heat a griddle pan until very hot, griddle aubergine on both sides until golden brown. Set aside on kitchen paper.
- To make the béchamel sauce. Melt the butter in a small pan, add the flour and stir to make a roux (paste).
- Remove from the heat whilst gradually stirring in the milk.
- Place the pan over a gentle heat and simmer, stirring, until thickened. Remove from the heat, let the mix cool slightly, stir in the egg yolk and half the parmesan cheese. Season to taste.
- Take your 2litre oven proof dish and layer the aubergine and mince. Repeat, then spread the white sauce on top.
- Scatter with the remaining parmesan cheese and sprinkle the grated cheddar cheese on top
- Finish with grating nutmeg across the cheese scattered surface.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes in the pre heated oven until golden.
- Serve with a Greek salad or wedges
He was the one who convinced me to sack it all off with no planning, no job, no carefully crafted plans for the future and helped me break free. He had faith that it would all come good, but first he said, you have to change your environment in order to see clearly.
With his wise words we booked a last minute and ran away to Kefalonia, one of the many beautiful sun brushed islands of Greece.
With no plans for the future, I truly let life’s baggage go. I cleared my brain of schedules, deadlines and existed for one perfect week in the moment with the man of my dreams.
That feeling of liberation I now associate with sitting at a table on the breath-taking Trapazaki beach. The sun setting across the ink-stained Ionian Sea, the breeze still warm, small lights twinkling in the surrounding hills, laughing, in love whilst eating a mouth-watering Moussaka. Happiness personified.
It’s Saturday evening here in Rye, East Sussex with a marriage, a mortgage, two children and 16 years down the line, eating Moussaka Moussaka – I have to name it twice as the memories are as good as it tastes x 2!
