Moussaka
- Comments()
- Yield Serves 6
Ingredients
- 2 cups plain nonfat yogurt
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 yellow onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt, plus more for eggplant
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- One 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, coarsely chopped
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 2 medium eggplants (about 2 pounds)
- 1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg, plus 1 large egg white
- Olive-oil, cooking spray
Directions
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Drain yogurt in a cheesecloth-lined sieve until thickened, 2 hours or overnight.
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Place turkey in a medium saucepan over medium heat; cook until browned, about 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a medium bowl. Add onion, garlic, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and pepper to saucepan; cook until onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Return turkey to saucepan with tomatoes, tomato paste, and oregano. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium low; simmer until sauce has thickened, about 1 hour. Remove from heat; stir in chopped parsley; set aside.
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Preheat broiler. While sauce cooks, cut eggplants into 1/4-inch slices. Sprinkle with salt on both sides. Place in a colander over a bowl; let stand 1 hour to drain. Discard liquid; rinse each slice under cold running water to remove all salt and juice. Place slices on several layers of paper towels; press out water. Lay dry slices on a clean baking sheet; coat with olive-oil spray; broil until browned, about 2 minutes. Turn; coat with olive-oil spray; broil until browned, about 2 minutes more. Repeat until all eggplant slices have been broiled; set cooked eggplant aside.
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Place drained yogurt in a small bowl. Add Parmesan and eggs. Whisk together briskly with a fork; set aside.
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Assemble moussaka: Place a layer of eggplant on the bottom of an 8-by-8-inch baking pan. Cover with half the turkey sauce. Place another eggplant layer, then the remaining turkey sauce.Add a final eggplant layer; cover with reserved yogurt mixture. Bake until mixture is bubbling and top starts to brown, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a heat-proof surface; let sit until moussaka cools slightly and firms, about 10 minutes. Cut into squares; serve.
So good! All the leftovers got eaten, too!
While this recipe is a bit time consuming, the result was well worth it. Absolutely delicious and the spices make it so very, very good.
I have made this recipe a few times and it always turns out great. The flavours of the dish are amazing. It does take some time to make this recipe but I usually make the meat sauce the day before so I'm not in the kitchen too long : )
Absolutely delicious! I will cook this again and again-
Also try a great recipe from...
Check out Edward Espe Browns cookbook The Tassajara Cookbook for a really amazing recipe for Moussake. I made it on Christmas Eve one time and everyone couldn't stop eating it. it is a bit richer but also more traditionally done.
I used bechamel sauce instead of yogurt mixture and use ground beef instead of turkey. My family love eating this to lagsane.
Delicious! I didn't bother to thicken the yogurt and I only used one cup. I also used fresh tomatoes with some water. This came out better than I expected and tasted really good for being so healthy!