Stuffing for artwork

Cutlets, zrazy, fillings for pancakes and pies – this is what we make from minced meat. Delicious, of course, but somehow too familiar..

There are many ways to make a masterpiece of culinary art out of minced meat: for example, there are a huge number of recipes for moussaka in the world: it is loved in Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Armenia, Moldova, Serbia, Croatia, Cyprus, and everywhere is prepared in its own way.

The principle is the same: in a ceramic dish ideally a pie pan ! The layers of vegetables and minced meat are baked in a pan and topped with either a tomato or a cream-cheese sauce.

This dish is a kind of a construction set, since it must be “assembled” from the already prepared products: all the ingredients are fried separately, then placed in layers and poured with the sauce prepared beforehand.

Moussaka… international

Vegetable layer options: slices or strips of fried or baked eggplant, fried bell pepper slices, tomato slices, potato slices, zucchini slices, pumpkin slices. The choice of vegetables depends on the season and on the “national characteristics of moussaka”. In Greece they like to put eggplants in it, in Turkey – zucchini and pumpkin, in Bulgaria – potatoes.

The meat layer is made either of lamb this is, of course, the classic and more correct choice or a mixture of veal and lean pork. The stuffing is fried in olive oil with chopped onion, garlic, herbs, seasoned with coriander, nutmeg, red and black pepper. Experts advise to add to the meat half a glass of white wine – it will be even more fragrant.

Two layers are placed in a mold and, depending on your mood and the desired calorie content, you choose the sauce: made from tomatoes boiled with garlic you can take canned tomatoes in their own juice or from melted flour, cream and grated cheese béchamel sauce . The miracle is baked in the oven for 10 minutes and served in the same dish. By the way, moussaka can be made in advance and served cold: not only will the taste not suffer, but it will become more pronounced.

Grandma’s secrets: if eggplants are not the youngest, they can be bitter. Salt will help to cope with the problem: chopped raw vegetables should be sliced, sprinkled with salt and pressed for about 15 minutes with a press – a board or a plate. The eggplants will give the juice, with which the bitterness should disappear. Moussaka can also be baked and served in portions – in pots, as they do in Cyprus.