Marvelous Moussaka and They Many Ways You Can Enjoy It!

I love Greek myths and I just love Greek food! I was surprised to learn that there is more than one version of moussaka. The dish everyone is familiar with is the one with eggplant and chopped meat. There is also moussaka made with zucchini, artichokes and potatoes. The moussaka has a topping of bechamel sauce with breadcrumbs sometimes, but always sprinkled with cheese.

Generally it is baked in one dish, but in the extravagant Athenian restaurants, the moussaka is arranged in separate shallow dishes. You can make a nice Greek salad to go with it. Here are just three variations of moussaka.

Fried Tomato Moussaka
The ingredients are 4 medium sized tomatoes, all-purpose flour, salt, pepper, bacon fat, ground beef chuck, dried basil, olive oil, bechamel sauce and grated Parmesan cheese. Cut the tomatoes but don't peel them, dip them into the flour and fry in the bacon fat until it's brown. Next, season it with salt and pepper, put in a baking dish and sprinkle half of 1 tablespoon sugar on them. Cook the meat, basil and 1 tablespoon olive oil, stirring a lot to break up the meat. When it is done, spread over the tomatoes, top with the rest of the sugar. Pour the bechamel sauce on top, and cover that with the cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Lentil Moussaka
The ingredients are 2 cups of quick-cooking lentils, salt, an onion with 2 cloves sticking in it, a single bay leaf, a parsley bouquet, 6 skinless frankfurters, mustard, olive oil, bechamel sauce and Parmesan cheese. Put lentils, bay leaf, onion and parsley, salt in water and cover for 25-30 minutes or just until it becomes tender. Remove the bay leaf, onion, parsley, and drain. Keep about 1/4 of the liquid for later. Put the lentils in a shallow dish, and cover it with the liquid. Heat the frankfurters, mustard and olive oil and stir a lot so the meat breaks up, but not to the point of browning it. Put this mixture over the lentils, and cover with bechamel sauce, and then the grated Parmesan cheese. Preheat the oven and bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until browned.

Eggplant Moussaka
The ingredients are a medium-sized eggplant, olive oil, a pound of ground beef chuck, salt, pepper , bechamel sauce and Parmesan cheese. Slice the eggplant without peeling it. Fry in a little oil until it's browned on each side. Cook the chuck beef in olive oil until it's no longer red. Stir it a lot to keep the meat broken. Season it with the pepper and salt. Arrange the eggplant in a dish, cover it with the meat, add more pieces of the eggplant on top, then pour over the bechamel sauce, then sprinkle the cheese on the top. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes until it's a golden-brown color.