Greek eggplants: recipes. Recipe for preparing Greek eggplants for the winter Greek eggplants are the most delicious recipe

This Greek dish includes both a meat component and a side dish. It requires no additions and is surprisingly tasty. There are many recipes for Greek moussaka with eggplant, and any option will please the most demanding gourmet.

Moussaka is not a national Greek dish. It has an author, the famous Greek chef Nikos Tselemendis. He was a supporter of not only national, but also European cuisine, so the recipe he invented whimsically combines traditional Greek vegetables and lamb, and exquisite French bechamel.

Finger-licking delicious.

The recipe is only about a hundred years old, but moussaka is enjoyed in all countries. There are many options for preparing it with different ingredients, but it all started with classic Greek moussaka.

This dish cannot be called low-calorie or dietary, but how delicious it is! When preparing, do not spare spices and olive oil.

What is important is that according to the classic recipe, Greek moussaka is prepared only from lamb. Well, as a last resort - from beef.

Of course, you can take pork or chicken, but it won’t be the same.

Ingredients:

• 4 small eggplants with a total weight of about 700 g;
• already twisted minced meat - 0.5 kg;
• 2 onions;
• several ripe tomatoes with a total weight of about 300 g;
• hard cheese – 75 g;
• dry white wine 150 ml;
• olive oil – 2 tbsp. spoons.

Moussaka should be topped with sauce. For it you need to take:

• hard cheese – 150 g;
• 2 chicken eggs;
• 400 ml milk;
• 2 tbsp. spoons of flour;
• butter – 75 g.

We will season the sauce with a pinch of grated nutmeg, and the minced meat with dry herbs to suit your taste.

How to cook:

1. If the eggplants are bitter, cut them into rings without peeling them and sprinkle them with salt. In 20 minutes. washed and dried.
2. Tomatoes are peeled, for which they should first be scalded.
3. Fry the eggplant rings over high heat, adding oil. It usually takes 1 minute for them to brown.
4. Sauté the onion, cut into half rings, in oil until it becomes transparent. Add minced meat, knead and fry for 5 minutes. Season with herbs, add wine and simmer until all the liquid evaporates. At the end of stewing, add salt to taste.
5. Simmer the tomatoes, cut into circles.

Prepare the sauce separately:

• fry the flour in butter until golden brown;
• dilute with warm milk, adding it in portions and thoroughly kneading until smooth;
• heat until sour cream thickens, turn off the heat;
• lightly beaten eggs are mixed into the sauce so that they do not curdle;
• All that remains is finely grated cheese, add to the sauce, season with nutmeg and salt and mix well.

Next, cover the bottom of a tall baking dish with eggplants (take ½ part), place half the minced meat and cover with half the tomatoes. Lay out the products again in the same sequence, pour in the sauce and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Bake the dish in a hot oven for about half an hour.

The liquid should evaporate completely, but the food should not be allowed to burn.

Before serving, allow the dish to steep for a quarter of an hour.

Cooking option with potatoes

The cooking technology is the same. If you add 300 g of sliced ​​potatoes to the ingredients specified in the previous recipe, the dish will have a different taste.

Potatoes must first be fried until half cooked or baked in the oven for 10 minutes. When forming a dish, it is placed in the first layer. The baking time for Greek moussaka with eggplant and potatoes will have to be extended a little, since potato slices take longer to cook than all the other ingredients.

With the addition of zucchini - step by step

Moussaka with zucchini is easy to prepare; they add a special taste and juiciness to the dish.

With zucchini the dish will be juicier and tastier.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggplants;
• 1 zucchini squash;
• 1 onion;
• 5 tomatoes;
• 500 g of already rolled minced lamb or veal;
• 300 g hard cheese;
• 4 tbsp. spoons of flour;
• 2 glasses of milk;
• 70 g butter;
• 4 tbsp. spoons of olive oil.

The dish is seasoned with salt and pepper to taste.

How to cook:

1. Eggplants and zucchini cut into thin slices are sprinkled with salt.
2. After a quarter of an hour, wipe them of juice and lightly fry with the addition of olive oil.
3. Peeled tomatoes are chopped, as are onions.
4. Sauté onions in oil for 3-5 minutes.
5. Add minced meat to it, mix and bring until half cooked.
6. Add tomatoes to the semi-finished ingredients, season with spices and mix.
7. Fry the flour in butter for 3-4 minutes. The mixture should be homogeneous, without lumps.
8. Dilute it little by little with slightly warmed milk, achieving homogeneity after each serving.
9. Remove the sauce from the heat, then mix it with half the finely grated cheese.
10. Divide the zucchini and eggplants into 3 parts, and the minced meat in half.

Next, place a third of the eggplants and zucchini on the bottom of a deep baking dish, then half of the minced meat, which is sprinkled with half of the remaining cheese, again a third of the eggplants and zucchini, the remaining minced meat, cheese, and then the zucchini and eggplants on top. All. Pour the prepared bechamel over the moussaka and bake in a not too hot oven for about 40 minutes.

After baking, the moussaka should cool slightly before serving, so its taste will become brighter and richer, and it will not disintegrate when cut.

Vegetarian moussaka Greek style

This recipe is for those who do not eat meat in any form, but do not deny themselves eggs and milk. The dish is not similar to the classic Greek moussaka with minced meat, although it is prepared using the same technology. But that certainly doesn’t make it any less tasty.

The dish is perfect for a pleasant evening dinner with the family.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium-sized carrots and onions;
• a small celery root weighing 100 g;
• 5 potatoes;
• 0.5 kg asparagus green beans;
• 0.5 cups rice;
• 4 eggs;
• 2/3 cup milk;
• olive oil as needed.

In this recipe, the pouring sauce is made from a mixture of milk and eggs, but you can also make classic bechamel.

How to cook:

1. Three carrots and celery on a grater, chop the onion. Fry vegetables until soft.
2. Boil rice and beans until tender. We cut the last one into pieces.
3. Three boiled and peeled potatoes on a grater with large holes.
4. Make the sauce by mixing lightly beaten eggs with milk. You can add your favorite dried herbs to it.
5. Place the potatoes in a greased baking dish, first, and then the rest of the ingredients in layers.
6. Pour the sauce over everything and shake the pan so that it saturates each layer.

Vegetarian moussaka bakes in half the time of a traditional dish - only 20 minutes. in a hot oven at 200 degrees.

With eggplant and rice

There is very little rice in this dish, but it is it that absorbs the delicious juice that the meat and vegetables release.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggplants with a total weight of about 500 g;
• 100 g rice;
• 2 pcs. onions and large tomatoes;
• a couple of cloves of garlic;
• olive or vegetable oil - how much will be needed;
• 2 tbsp. spoons of flour and butter;
• 2 glasses of milk;
• 100 g hard cheese, ideally Parmesan;
• 500 g minced pork or mixed with beef;
• a pinch of grated nutmeg.

Salt and pepper are added to taste.

How to cook:

1. Peel the eggplants, cut them into lengthwise slices and soak for half an hour in well-salted water. Wash and dry on a napkin.
2. Fry on both sides until golden brown, but without drying out.
3. Cook the rice until almost done.
4. Fry finely chopped onion until golden brown, adding chopped garlic.
5. After adding the minced meat, fry a little more, add some salt and simmer with the addition of finely chopped tomatoes for 5-7 minutes.
6. For bechamel, mix flour with butter in a deep frying pan until smooth. You need to fry them for no more than 5 minutes.
7. Dilute the mixture with warm milk so that the sauce is homogeneous. To do this, you need to constantly stir it.
8. Season the bechamel with salt and nutmeg.
9. We “assemble” the moussaka: put rice on the bottom of the mold, which needs to be greased ahead of time, all the minced meat on it, which we then cover with eggplants.

All that remains is to pour bechamel over the moussaka and sprinkle with grated cheese. In a very hot oven, the dish is baked in 25 minutes. Ingredients:

• 2 small eggplants;
• bulb;
• 2 tbsp. spoons of sour cream, flour;
• 0.5 kg minced meat;
• 1 tbsp. a spoonful of tomato paste and butter;
• 2 eggs;
• 150 g hard cheese;
• clove of garlic.

Spices and salt to taste and desire. In a slow cooker, moussaka is prepared a little differently, but it still turns out very tasty.

How to cook:

1. Cut the eggplants into circles half a centimeter thick, without peeling them.
2. Sprinkle with salt and let sit for about half an hour. Wash and dry. In this case, there is no need to fry them.
3. Chop the garlic and onion, fry with a piece of butter in a multicooker bowl in the “Baking” mode until golden brown.
4. Add the minced meat, season with salt, pepper and spices, fry for another 20 minutes.
5. Stir with tomato paste and simmer for another 10 minutes.
6. Mix cheese, eggs and sour cream, add salt and gradually add flour, achieving homogeneity of the sauce.
7. Place eggplant slices on the minced meat, pour in the sauce and cook in the “Baking” mode for another third of an hour. We make sure that the “blue” vegetables brown.

Greek moussaka with minced meat, eggplant and potatoes step by step with photos

Moussaka with minced meat is the hallmark of Mediterranean cuisine. No one knows the exact history of this dish; it is prepared in many countries, and there are as many cooking options as there are countries themselves. In Greece, eggplants are added to meat; in the Serbian version, tomatoes are offered; in Bulgaria, potatoes are offered. In Arab countries, the dish is served as a cold salad with tomatoes and eggplants. By the way, the origin of the word “moussaka” (emphasis on the last syllable) is Arabic, and it means “chilled”.

I suggest you familiarize yourself with the recipe for Greek moussaka, so beloved by all tourists. In Greece, moussaka is served in both inexpensive cafes and luxury restaurants. But you don’t have to go anywhere to try this delicious casserole; the proposed recipe with photos is as close as possible to the classic Greek one and can easily be used at home. To prepare you will need eggplants, some potatoes, minced lamb and the traditional filling - Bechamel sauce. And of course, almost no Greek dish is complete without cheese and olive oil. Vegetables for casserole can be pre-fried or baked in the oven - do what you like best. In the first version, olive oil is used to lubricate the pan, in the second - vegetables.

Olive oil is a truly Greek product. Virgin oil is the healthiest, it contains a lot of fatty acids (oleic, omega 3 and 9), vitamins A, D, E, K. It is believed that such oil is not used for frying, since all the benefits disappear under the influence of high temperature. But contrary to general opinion, many Italian, Greek, and French chefs fry exclusively with it. There is a way to preserve the maximum benefits of olive oil: fry foods over low to medium heat. If the oil begins to burn and smoke, the temperature has been exceeded. You can also bake vegetables in the oven - the oil will definitely not burn there, if you set the timer, of course.

Greek moussaka is vaguely reminiscent of Italian lasagna, the recipe for which is located. Only instead of dough a vegetable layer is used. Initially, the Greek recipe calls for only eggplants, but modern modifications allow the addition of potatoes and zucchini. Greek eggplant and potato casserole is very filling and stands out a bit among the low-calorie Mediterranean dishes. Traditionally, it is prepared with minced lamb, but it also turns out quite tasty and juicy with pork and beef. You can even try using minced turkey or chicken if you need to reduce the fat content of the dish. What else gives the casserole its flair? This is red wine that is added during the stewing process of meat. And a special Mediterranean aroma is given to the meat dish by a cinnamon stick and mint. How to prepare juicy and tasty moussaka step by step? I'm sharing the recipe!

Ingredients:

for moussaka:

• 3 eggplants (600-700 g);
• 4 large potato tubers (600-700 g);
• 3 small tomatoes (300 g);
• 1 small onion (300 g);
• 500 g minced lamb or pork and beef;
• 200 g mozzarella;
• 100 ml. dry red wine;
• 2 cloves of garlic;
• salt, pepper to taste;
• cinnamon stick;
• a few mint leaves;
• extra virgin olive oil.

for bechamel sauce:

• 1 l. milk;
• 100 g butter;
• 3 tbsp. flour;
• a pinch of nutmeg;
• 0.5 tsp Provençal herbs.

Greek moussaka recipe with eggplant, potatoes, minced meat and bechamel sauce

1. Cut the washed eggplants into slices about half a centimeter thick.

2. Salt and leave for 20-30 minutes so that the pieces release juice, which will remove all the bitterness from the eggplant.

3. Cut the potatoes into slices approximately the same thickness as the eggplants.

4. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet lined with baking paper, lightly spray with olive oil and bake for 20 minutes at 200 degrees. It should become soft and brown a little on top.

5. Make cuts on the tomato skin to make it easier to remove.

6. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes and leave for 5 minutes.

7. Meanwhile, finely chop the onion.

Tip: To avoid crying while cutting, chew something, or rinse the knife with cold water.

8. Place the onion in a frying pan with heated olive oil and saute until half cooked.

9. Add the minced meat to the onion and break it up with a spatula, then mix with the onion.

10. You can now remove the skin from the tomatoes. Cut the fruits into small cubes.

11. The minced meat has set and meat juice has started to come out.

12. It's time to add tomatoes to the minced meat.

13. Pour in red wine.

14. Add spices: mint and cinnamon stick.

15. Add water and simmer over low heat.

16. Wash the eggplants and squeeze out the juice, dry with paper towels.

17. We also bake the eggplants until soft (about 20 minutes), brushing a little olive oil on top.

18. Not a single moussaka is complete without Bechamel sauce. Interestingly, the origin of the fill is not Greek, but French! The preparation of the sauce is described in detail. So, melt half the butter over low heat, add flour and mix immediately. Now add warm milk in small portions, stirring continuously. Add salt and pepper, stir and cook for another 2-3 minutes after boiling. Now turn off the heat, add the remaining oil and cover the pan with a lid until it is completely dissolved. Bechamel is ready. It will thicken a little as it hardens.

19. Half of the liquid from the pan has evaporated, leaving the minced meat in the sauce. You can take out a cinnamon stick (it has already served its purpose), add squeezed garlic, stir and remove the pan from the stove.

20. Grate the mozzarella on a fine grater.

21. We begin to assemble moussaka with potatoes and eggplants. Grease the bottom of the pan with bechamel sauce.

22. Place a layer of eggplants in the mold, placing the circles tightly to each other.

23. Place minced meat on top.

24. Sprinkle with a little cheese.

25. Place potatoes and cover with sauce.

26. The next layer is minced meat again.

27. And again sprinkle with cheese.

28. Lay out the remaining eggplants.

29. Pour in all the remaining sauce and mozzarella. Place the moussaka with eggplant in a preheated oven and bake at 180 degrees for 40 minutes.

30. The moussaka is baked, the cheese is beautifully browned. You can garnish the Greek casserole with a sprig of mint and serve. Bon appetit!

Step 1: Prepare the eggplants.

Choose ripe eggplants, never overripe (they contain harmful substances). Vegetables must be thoroughly washed and cut lengthwise into 2 parts as in the photo.
We remove the core so that the wall thickness is 5-8 mm. There is no need to throw it away, we will use it in the future. You should end up with some kind of boats. Cut carefully so as not to cut through!

Step 2: Bake the eggplants.

Let it warm up oven to 175 degrees. Grease a baking tray with oil or line it with baking paper. Brush the eggplant boats with olive oil on all sides. Need to bake 15 minutes, but make sure that the ingredient does not brown during the process.

Step 3: Fry the minced meat.

Any minced meat will do, it’s a matter of taste, you can mix pork and beef 1:1. Fry it over medium heat, stirring occasionally. To prevent the minced meat from burning, add 2 tbsp. spoons of olive oil. Approximately, In 5 minutes the ingredient will change color from pink to brown, then the pan must be removed from the heat. Place the semi-finished minced meat in a bowl with a slotted spoon (we don’t need extra moisture, but there is no need to pour it out!).

Step 4: Fry the vegetables.

Wash and peel the onion, pepper, and tomato; remove the stem from the tomato. Finely chop these ingredients, including the eggplant core and parsley. First of all, we send the onions and peppers to fry in a frying pan in the liquid from the minced meat. Stirring and simmering 3 minutes, then add tomatoes. Stir again, making sure that the ingredients do not fry.
After 4 minutes add eggplant core and spices. We wait 5 minutes.

Step 5: Make the filling.

Place the vegetables in a bowl, add herbs and cheese. Mix everything with a spatula.
Add minced meat to this mass. Mix everything again.

Step 6: Form the dish.

Use a tablespoon to fill the eggplant boats. Sprinkle the top well with breadcrumbs and drizzle with olive oil. The last baking will be at the same temperature at 175 degrees for 30 minutes. During this time, the crackers will absorb the juice of the vegetables and acquire a golden crust.

Step 7: Serve eggplants Greek style.

The dish is served hot. Garnish it with sliced ​​fresh vegetables and herbs. Bon appetit!

You can try replacing the cheese with another cheese. At the same time, grate it into a coarse grater; you need to add it at the same stage of preparation.

Please note that vegetables need to be stewed, and not fried until golden brown.

The recipe is for 2 people; if you want to cook more, you need to increase it proportionally.

Eggplant in Greek

Recipe was seen onScullion_with_scullion and immediately done. I think, based on the name, this recipe came to her from Greece. In principle, it doesn’t matter, because we have all the ingredients, they are not expensive and are quite useful.

So we need 4-5 small eggplants. For this amount of eggplant we take - three tomatoes, three cloves of garlic, one red hot pepper, three bell peppers, the juice of half a lemon, three medium onions, a bunch of parsley, a small apple. We cut the eggplants into slices about five millimeters thick. Sprinkle with coarse salt and leave for half an hour. During this half hour we must prepare the eggplant filling. Cut the thin skin of the tomatoes crosswise, put them in boiling water for one minute, and then under cold water. We remove the skin from them. In a meat grinder or blender we grind everything that we have prepared except the eggplants themselves. Add a teaspoon of sugar, the juice of half a lemon, a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, and half a teaspoon of salt.

We wash the eggplants under hot and then under cold water. Take it with your hand and squeeze, forcing all the excess moisture to leave the eggplant. Place foil on a baking sheet and grease it with olive oil. Place the eggplants on the foil, spreading each “petal” with the resulting filling. It’s okay if the filling starts to drip and the eggplants seem to be in puddles of aromatic juice.

Cover the top with another piece of foil and place in the oven preheated to 250 degrees for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove the top layer of foil and place in the oven for another 10 minutes. That's all.

I tried eating it both hot and cold. My opinion is that it tastes much better cold, especially if you sprinkle finely chopped garlic on top. Wonderful both as a cold appetizer and as a side dish or an independent dish when served hot. You should definitely try it, if only to further diversify your summer table with the gifts of the fields and vegetable gardens. Well, you should like it - it’s impossible not to like such a delicious thing.

A Greek winter appetizer made from eggplant will delight lovers of spicy pickled vegetables. In order for guests and family to enjoy these vegetables, you need to learn how to cook them correctly. A canned snack will fit perfectly into the cold season on the dinner table. It can also be served for a holiday, as a separate original salad. On various websites on the Internet you can watch video recipes about the rules for preparing this salad.

Greek eggplant for the winter is a truly royal recipe. Photos and videos can be viewed on the website. At first glance, it is very complex, but in fact it contains very simple products, and it is easy to prepare.

For one small jar you need to take two medium eggplants. Wash them, cut off stains, holes and imperfections on the skin. Vegetables must be fresh.

In addition to eggplant add:

1. One bell pepper;
2. Carrot;
3. Two onions;
4. 3-4 heads of garlic;
5. Bay leaf;
6. Peppercorns;
7. Vegetable oil 50 grams;
8. Sugar and salt to taste, about a tablespoon;
9. Seasonings: curry, paprika, coriander, black pepper, white pepper;
10. Greens: basil, thyme, cilantro, parsley, celery.
11. Two tomatoes.

You can take any greens you like. You can do without it completely. But it adds flavor and spice. Salt, sugar and seasoning are added to taste. To keep the snack well, you need to add a little regular table vinegar.

How to cook step by step

An eggplant appetizer should be prepared in one go. It is important not to confuse anything and follow the recipe in the photo and video.

The highest quality vegetables are selected, free from rot and disease. They are washed and dried. Carrots and onions must first be peeled. Divide the garlic into cloves.

Eggplants are cut into circles or strips, as you like. Carrots, onions and garlic are cut into small cubes. Peppers with diced tomatoes.

Take out a frying pan or saucepan and start cooking. Lay out the vegetables. Add oil, vinegar, sugar and salt. Simmer for a few minutes after boiling.

Tomatoes are added at the end, along with seasonings and herbs. This appetizer is considered spicy, so you don’t have to skimp on the garlic and hot pepper. Simmer for about ten minutes with the lid tightly closed. Then, put the salad on low heat and cook for another ten minutes. The mixture should not gurgle, just simmer quietly.

Lids and jars should be prepared in advance. They are sterilized, washed in hot water, and scalded with hot steam. Then dry and allow to drain.

The warm snack is placed in jars. If there is anything left, you can eat it the same day. The rest is rolled up, screwed, and turned upside down until it cools completely. It is better to store the snack in the cellar or in the refrigerator. You can eat it after a couple of months, but many people open it to enjoy it even earlier.

Important rules for authentic Greek appetizers

Cooking real Greek eggplants for the winter is an art. The video recipe shows that all the vegetables are chopped quite coarsely. This is a little unconventional for Russian snacks. It is no coincidence that this one was called Greek.

After all, it is in Greece that all vegetables are loved and appreciated, like in no other country. Moreover, in salads, each vegetable is highlighted there, without hiding it or disguising it. So it is here: the larger the vegetables in the appetizer, the better and tastier. It’s better not to chop even the garlic, but to cut it into strips or rings. Carrots should come in large cubes.

Another important rule is that the real taste of the product is discovered only some time after screwing on the lids. Therefore, it is better to wait a few months before trying it.

The most important vegetable here is eggplant. There should be more of it than other vegetables. The appetizer is spicy, so you don’t have to skimp on hot peppers, black and red.

It is important to be careful not to overcook the food in the pan. They should crisp slightly when cold. The main feature of the Greek snack is that it is bright, piquant and looks beautiful in a jar or plate. That is why the recipe includes colorful vegetables, as well as herbs.