Today’s recipe is BAKED EGGPLANTS with meat sauce, a dish halfway between eggplant parmesan, Sicilian-style eggplant pie, and baked lasagna but without pasta: a remarkable delight!
It’s a delicious treasure chest of fried eggplants inside which layers of meat sauce, parmesan, béchamel, and eggplants alternate.
It certainly can’t be counted among the fastest or most dietary preparations, although it’s actually very simple, you just need a bit of time, but I assure you that every forkful will reward you for your efforts once it’s finished.
The first thing you’ll need to do is prepare a meat sauce and béchamel, then fry the eggplants, which you will use to line the bottom of a baking dish. At this point, all you have to do is assemble everything and bake for about 30 minutes.
I thought of preparing them because I love both meat sauce and béchamel, but one of my favorite dishes is also eggplant parmesan, so inspired by the famous Greek Moussaka, I decided to mix these two delicacies.
It differs from the original version of the Greek dish by the absence of potatoes among the layers and for not using cinnamon and star anise to flavor the sauce, which I don’t like.
An incredibly delicious, creamy, soft recipe with a rich and intense flavor, which can be considered a substantial second course or even better a single dish.
Great warm but even better reheated the next day.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Cooking time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 1,771.69 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 33.03 (g) of which sugars 12.15 (g)
- Proteins 43.43 (g)
- Fat 163.84 (g) of which saturated 36.93 (g)of which unsaturated 97.19 (g)
- Fibers 6.41 (g)
- Sodium 1,191.88 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 350 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 9 oz ground beef
- 9 oz ground pork
- 2/3 cup tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- onion (1 small)
- celery (1 stalk)
- garlic (1 clove)
- 1 glass red wine
- bay leaves (2 leaves)
- rosemary (1 sprig)
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 ladle water
- to taste salt
- black pepper (a pinch)
- oval black eggplants (3 large)
- all-purpose flour (for dusting)
- peanut oil (for frying)
- 2 cups milk
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/4 cup butter
- nutmeg (a pinch)
- to taste salt
- black pepper (optional)
- 1 cup grated parmesan
- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
Tools
- 1 Frying pan
- 1 Pot
- 1 Baking dish
Steps
Clean the celery and onion and chop them coarsely, then place them in a non-stick pan with 2 tablespoons of oil and a clove of garlic, sauté until the onion is wilted.
At this point, add the mixed minced meat (beef and pork) and brown it over high heat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon for 5 minutes.
Deglaze with red wine, then season with bay leaves and rosemary.
Add the tomato paste and the tomato sauce, stir and let simmer over high heat.
Lower the heat, adjust salt and pepper, add 2 glasses of water and cook covered for about an hour. Check occasionally; the sauce should reduce but not too much.
Once ready, turn off and set aside.
Remove the stalk from the eggplants, slice them lengthwise to about 1/2 inch thick, and dust both sides with flour.
Heat the peanut oil in a pan to 356°F, then fry the eggplants in the hot oil until golden, drain them on paper towels as they are ready.
For the preparation of the béchamel, I refer you to my tried and tested recipe which you can find HERE.
Grease a deep baking dish (diameter 10 inches), lightly oil the bottom, line it with the fried eggplant slices, arranging them so that you can fold them over once you finish composing the pie.
Sprinkle with some grated Parmesan and breadcrumbs, cover with plenty of meat sauce, spreading it evenly over the entire surface.
Then add a few spoonfuls of béchamel.
Continue layering with another layer of eggplants, overlapping the slices slightly, Parmesan, breadcrumbs, meat sauce, and béchamel, and level the surface.
Finally, fold the eggplant slices protruding over the edge inward and place the last layer of eggplant slices to cover everything.
Drizzle some oil over the surface and bake in a preheated static oven at 356°F for about 45 minutes. Here is the eggplant pie with meat sauce, an Italianized version of Greek moussaka.
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NOTES
As already mentioned, this is an Italianized version of Greek Moussaka, which in its original version includes the addition of cinnamon, nutmeg, and star anise in the meat sauce as well as potatoes among the layers.
STORAGE
Once ready, the eggplant pie can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Alternatively, you can freeze it once cooked and completely cooled.
VERSION WITH GRILLED EGGPLANTS
You can lighten the recipe by grilling the eggplants instead of frying them.
In this case, once sliced lengthwise, place a lightly oiled grill on the heat and let it warm up well. Grill the eggplants for 5-7 minutes, lightly salt them, then turn them over and cook them on the other side for 5-7 minutes. Proceed until they are all grilled, remembering to add a drizzle of oil to the grill when the previous one is absorbed.
The baked eggplants with meat sauce, like Moussaka, are usually prepared in a single baking dish, brought to the table whole, and then portioned among guests.
Alternatively, you can make small single servings using disposable aluminum molds, and it will become a great appetizer to serve at a buffet.
black friday
During these Black Friday days, I didn’t miss this fantastic iron
