Pumpkin – Moussaka

Summary

Ingredients

For the filling:

• 1 kg minced meat, mixed or beef
• 3 medium onion (s), red, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 600 g tomato (s), can, pureed
• 2 chilli pepper (s)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
• 1 teaspoon clove powder
• 0.5 teaspoon ½ nutmeg, grated
• 4 tablespoons mint, green, chopped or dried
• 3 bay leaves
• 4 tablespoon olive oil or clarified butter
• 3 tablespoon, leveled sea salt, coarse
• 2 teaspoons, heaped pepper, ground black or ground
• 0.25 liter ¼ red wine
• 1.2 kg pumpkin meat (e.g. butternut, Mesa Queen, Bischofsmütze, etc.)
• 300 g potato (s), peeled
• salt and pepper
• nutmeg
• Butter, for the mold

For the sauce:

• 180 g butter
• 180 g flour, universal or smooth
• 1 liter milk
• 3 egg (s)
• 200 g cheese, rated, not too stron in taste
• sea-salt
• Pepper White
• nutmeg
• 50 g breadcrumbs

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Instructions

1. Heat the oil or clarified butter in a frying pan, let the onions become translucent in it, then add the minced meat and brown for about 20 - 30 minutes while stirring repeatedly. In between add the chilli peppers and repeatedly mash the meat with a fork so that it becomes finely crumbly. Then spread the garlic (it may become bitter when seared) and all the spices over it. Roast again briefly while stirring and deglaze with the red wine. Pour the pureed tomatoes over it and simmer covered for at least 2.5 to 3 hours on the lowest energy level. If necessary, pour a little (4 cl) of warm water every 30 - 60 minutes and stir. However, the sauce should not be too runny.
2. It is advisable to prepare this sauce the day before and to warm it up again on the processing day. (As with goulash, it gets better every time you warm it up.)
3. Cook the potatoes cut into 1/2 cm thick slices in the oven preheated to 120 ° on the baking sheet lined with aluminum foil for about 10 minutes, remove. Put the pumpkin, cut into 1 cm thick slices, in the oven for 5 minutes. Then remove everything from the baking sheet and let cool down a little.
4. Coat the bottom of the buttered casserole dish with the potatoes, season with salt and a little pepper. After removing the bay leaves, spread about 1/4 of the sauce on top, then continue alternating with pumpkin slices and sauce, sprinkling a little salt, pepper and nutmeg over each layer of pumpkin. The bechamel sauce is evenly distributed over the last layer (should be minced meat).
5. Sauce:
6. Beat the eggs lightly. Melt the butter in a casserole dish, sweat the flour in it and fill up with the cold milk while stirring constantly. Stir until the sauce thickens slightly and there are no more lumps (until just before cooking). Take the Reindl off the stove, season the contents and let cool down a little. Stir in the lightly beaten eggs and half of the grated cheese. Pour this mixture over the moussaka and smooth it out.
7. Mix the remaining cheese with the breadcrumbs and sprinkle on top. This results in a crispy crust.
8. Now place in the oven preheated to 180 ° to 190 ° (no convection) and bake for about 60 minutes, gratinating the surface with top heat for the last 10 to 15 minutes.
9. The moussaka is ready when the surface is golden brown. Take out of the oven and let it evaporate for about 10 to 15 minutes. In the meantime, cut the portions in the mold so that they can be lifted out more easily.
10. Tip:
11. If you prepare the dish without bechamel sauce, you save 450 kcal per serving, but then it is no longer moussakas.
12. The bechamel sauce can also be used for other dishes without cheese and breadcrumbs.