Moussaka

• Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
• Now take your moussaka dish (mine is a rectangular cast iron roaster, approx 32cmx25cm and 5cm deep) and brush the base and sides with 1 tbsp of the olive oil.
  1 tbsp olive oil
• Also take a large shallow baking tray and line it with baking parchment.
• Layer the potatoes over the base of the moussaka dish. It’s ok if they’re overlapping a little, but not too much, or they won’t cook through.
  3 medium potatoes
• Place a layer of baking parchment over the top of the potatoes and layer slices of aubergine over the top (this should use about half of your aubergines).
  3 medium aubergines (eggplant)
• Layer the remaining aubergine slices on top of the baking parchment on the prepared shallow baking tray.
• Brush all of the aubergine slices with the olive oil and sprinkle on the salt and pepper.
  3/4 tsp salt, 3/4 tsp black pepper, 2 tbsp olive oil
• Place the moussaka dish and the baking tray in the oven for 20-25 minutes (until the aubergines are lightly browned and the potatoes are tender).

For the Meat Sauce:

• Meanwhile, make the meat sauce.
• Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat.
  1 tbsp olive oil
• Add the chopped onions and fry for 5 minutes, stirring often, until softened.
  1 onion
• Add the lamb mince to the pan and turn up the heat to high.
  1 kg (2.2lbs) lamb mince – around 10% fat
• Fry the lamb mince until browned, breaking up any chunks with a wooden spoon or spatula (this should take about 5 minutes).
• Stir in the garlic and cook for a further minute, then add the red wine. Allow to bubble for 5 minutes.
  3 cloves garlic, 120 ml (1/2 cup) red wine
• Crumble the stock cube into the mixture, then add in the mint, cinnamon, oregano, bay leaves, salt, pepper, tomato puree, tinned tomatoes and sugar.
  1 beef or lamb stock cube, ½ tsp dried mint, 1 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp oregano, 2 bay leaves, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper, 2 tbsp tomato puree, 800 g (2 x 14oz) tins chopped tomatoes, 1 tsp sugar
• Stir together and bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
• By now the aubergines and potatoes should be ready to come out of the oven.
• Carefully lift the baking parchment with the aubergines on that is on top of the potatoes and place the parchment and aubergines to one side.
• Test the potatoes with a knife – they should be quite tender. If not, place a piece of parchment over them and place back in the oven for a further 5 minutes.

For the Cheese Sauce:

• Now make the cheese sauce.
• Heat the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat until melted.
  4 tbsp (60 g) unsalted butter
• Add the flour and stir into the butter using a whisk for 1 minute.
  4 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour
• Add the milk, a splash at a time, while stirring with the whisk, until all the milk is incorporated, and you have a smooth sauce. Keep stirring, until the sauce thickens (it should thicken just before it comes to boiling point).
  600 ml (2 ½ cups) full fat milk
• Turn off the heat and stir in the parmesan.
  100 g (1 cup) grated Parmesan cheese
• Add the egg and egg yolk and immediately stir into the sauce using the whisk (you need to do this right away, so the egg doesn’t cook in areas and form lumps in the sauce).
  1 large egg, 1 egg yolk
• Stir in the nutmeg and black pepper.
  pinch of nutmeg, ¼ tsp black pepper
• Now it’s time to assemble the moussaka.
• Take the baking dish that already has the potatoes in the bottom. Remove the parchment off the top (if you haven’t done so already).
• Place half of the aubergine slices on top of the potatoes.
• Spoon on half the meat sauce.
• Layer on the remaining aubergine slices.
• Spoon on the remaining meat sauce.
• Spoon on the cheese sauce, smoothing it out into an even layer.
• Place the moussaka in the oven to cook for 25-30 minutes, until golden.
• Take out of the oven and leave to rest for 5 minutes before serving.