Moussaka
Moussaka is a classic Bulgarian dish. Its basic
ingredients are fairly plain, but the yogurt gives it a unique, tangy
taste. It's surprisingly delicious! The difference between the Bulgarian
and Greek Moussaka is that the Bulgarian one uses potatoes and not eggplant.
This recipe is defiantly worth a try.
Ingredients:
-
3 lbs potatoes
-
1 lb lean ground beef
-
1 tablespoon tomato paste
-
1 teaspoon cumin (or more)
-
1/2 teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)
-
1/2 teaspoon white pepper (or to taste)
-
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
-
Salt
-
2 tablespoons oil (not needed if you use a nonstick pan for frying)
-
1 mushroom stock cubes
-
1 cup plain yogurt
-
2 -3 eggs (depending on size)
Directions:
In a frying pan put the oil, the beef, the tomato
paste, cumin, black and white pepper, nutmeg and some salt and start frying
forcing the meat with a fork to fall apart into crumbs. When all the meat
is falling apart remove from the fire and drain the excess fat (although you
could also add it to the baking tin).
Peel the potatoes and chop them into small
pieces. Put half of the potatoes in a deep baking tin, spread the meat
mixture over them and top it with the rest of the potatoes; you could use a
larger or a smaller diameter tin depending on how thick you want your moussaka
to be.
Add water until only half of the top layer of
potatoes stays uncovered by it and break the stock cube over it (BE CAREFUL –
if you opt not to use the cube you’ll have to add some salt).
Preheat the oven to a medium temperature and put the
moussaka inches. In a bowl beat the yogurt with the eggs the thyme, a bit
of salt and some black or white pepper if you want.
When the water in the tin starts boiling and the
potatoes start to cook, poor in the yogurt mixture taking care that it covers
the potatoes entirely.
Bake until the potatoes are done (about 45 min-1 h
total baking time) but be careful not to burn the yogurt lid – you may want to
lower the heat or to leave the oven heating from under the tin only.
When ready take out of the oven and leave to cool a
bit – potatoes cool very slowly. Serve very warm.
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