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Bulgarian Moussaka

At a Glance

Prep
30 minutes
Cook
50 minutes
Total
1 hour 20 minutes
Servings
4 serving(s)

Categories

  • Main Course
  • Bulgarian
  • Oven
  • Easy
  • Potato

Allergens

  • Eggs
  • Milk

Servings & Nutrition

Original recipe serves 4. Current scale: 1x.

Calories 605.9 per serving 2423.6 for selected servings
Fat 23.3g per serving 93.2g for selected servings
Sugar 6.4g per serving 25.6g for selected servings
Protein 35.2g per serving 140.8g for selected servings
Carbohydrates 64.2g per serving 256.8g for selected servings

Unlike what you might expect, this is one of the easiest dishes in my repertory. In takes time to bake but preparation is a breeze. There are an awful lot of different moussakas that I suppose all originate from different parts of the Balkans. This is the most popular one in Bulgaria and when you order moussaka in a Bulgarian restaurant this is exactly what you are going to get. All others are named after the veggies used -- moussaka with zucchini, with eggplant or vegetarian moussaka (rice and vegetables).

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Equipment

Frying pan, deep baking tin, mixing bowl, oven

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)

Instructions

  1. 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.

  2. 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).

  3. Peel the potatoes and chop them into small pieces (1/2" or a bit smaller).

  4. 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.

  5. 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).

  6. Preheat the oven to a medium temperature and put the moussaka inches.

  7. In a bowl beat the yogurt with the eggs the thyme, a bit of salt and some black or white pepper if you want.

  8. 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.

  9. 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.

  10. When ready take out of the oven and leave to cool a bit – potatoes cool very slowly.

  11. Serve very warm.

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Source: https://www.food.com/recipe/bulgarian-moussaka-71204

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