Lamb ragu 2 – Moussaka - Thrifty Lesley

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Lamb ragu 2 – Moussaka

Using the lamb ragu that was made yesterday, today I made a moussaka.

Cook Time40

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: Greek

Diet: Gluten Free

Servings: people

Calories: 424kcal

Author: Thrifty Lesley

Cost: £1.96 a portion

Equipment

Ingredients

Lamb ragu - 1/3 of the lamb ragu or make a ragu using these ingredients

166 g lamb mince
100 g onions
80 g carrot
1 clove garlic
1 tsp tomato ketchup
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
0.75 tsp salt
1 pinch black pepper or Aleppo pepper

Topping 1

aubergine 95p

Topping 2

1 egg free range if you can please, about 22p
80 ml milk 5p
125 ml plain yogurt Asda Greek yogurt, 45p/500g, 56p
pinch paprika
25 g cheddar mature, about £6.600/kg, 16p

Instructions

Slice the aubergine and brush with a tiny bit of oil, or none at all.
This dish is fatty already from the lamb, lots of oil on the aubergine
will make it unpleasantly fatty. Cook the aubergine in a skillet, under
the grill, or on a baking tray in the oven until browned.
aubergine
Now, in a dish, whisk together the topping ingredients and season with s+p.
25 g cheddar, 1 egg, 80 ml milk, 125 ml plain yogurt, pinch paprika
In an ovenproof dish, big enough to hold everything, place a third of
the aubergine in the base, half the ragu on top. Then repeat – a third
of the aubergine, the other half of the ragu and the last third of the
aubergine. Finally, pour the cheesy, eggy, yogort mix over the top.
When you are ready, bake in a medium oven (180C, Gas mark 4) for 35-40
minutes until golden brown on top. Leave to set for a few minutes before
serving.

Notes

Years ago, aubergines were de-gorged by sprinkling with salt, leaving to drain, and rinsing. This removed some of the bitterness from them. These days, I never do that as it doesn’t seem to make any difference to the taste of a dish and it’s a faff to do. You do need to cook them off a bit first tho to get rid of some of the moisture from them, otherwise the cooked moussaka could well be a bit watery.

If you have any, add half a tsp of cinnamon to the ragu and mix in well. I was intending to do this, but forgot until the dish was all assembled!

I used Greek yogort (value, from Aldi) because that is what I had, any plain yogort will work as they all have that yogorterty tang. I would have liked to use feta, but I didn’t have any in, and forgot to get any of this morning, so in the interests of economy for this post, I used cheddar.

I have put a third of a cauliflower in with the moussaka to roast with it, stalks and all, to have with it. You could have garlic bread and salad. Or how about a beetroot salad I did this morning to have with my lunchtime soft cheese, carrot and lemon stuffed mini nan. I used a raw beetroot, peeled and sliced into julienne and fried in a pan with a tiny amount of oil, just to take that raw taste of it away. Then I added a good shake of lemon juice from a bottle, a tsp of grainy mustard and a tsp of honey. I think that would go well with it, and I shall know if it does or not because there is a little left, so I shall have that with some of the cauliflower.

Nutrition