Moussaka with Ferrara ‘violina’ squash
Preheat the oven to 200 (fan).
For the vegetables:
olive oil
‘violina’ squash, cut into 1 cm slices. Enough to cover one layer of our baking dish.
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 aubergines, sliced
salt
ground pepper
thyme
For the minced beef ragù:
olive oil, for browning
1 small onion, finely chopped
500 g minced beef
salt
ground pepper
½ teaspoon cinnamon
a pinch of cloves
1 tablespoon of tomato purée
1 glass of dry white wine, or a little more if, like me, you’re using a pressure cooker
For the béchamel sauce
750 ml of milk
3 egg yolks
100 g of flour
100 g of butter
ground pepper
a pinch of nutmeg
100 g of grated Parmesan
For the vegetables
Brush a 25×30 cm baking tray with olive oil.
Peel the courgette and steam it, or if you don’t have a steamer, bake the courgette slices in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil.
Set them aside.
Slice the aubergines and fryyyy them 😍 – I know, steamed pumpkin and fried aubergine… but I just can’t bring myself to grill them 😂 – so let’s fry them 😍
Now that the vegetables are ready and the aubergines have been patted dry with kitchen paper, take the oven dish and start layering. Begin by arranging the aubergines to form the base. Add salt, pepper and a little thyme.
Do the same with the pumpkin, making another layer
For the minced meat
Pour a small amount of oil into a frying pan. Chop an onion. Add it to the pan and brown over a high heat.
Add ½ teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of cloves. Stir and brown. It makes a huge difference to cook the spices before adding the meat.
Add 1 tablespoon of tomato purée. Fry gently.
Add the minced meat. Use a wooden spoon to break it up into small pieces. Season with salt and pepper and cook over a high heat until cooked through.
Add a full glass of dry white wine – be generous. Fry for 5–10 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated.
The mixture should be quite dry. Set it aside.
I use a pressure cooker, so I add plenty of liquid and cook for 45 minutes from when it starts to whistle.
For the béchamel sauce
Place a medium-sized saucepan over a medium heat. Add the butter. As soon as the butter begins to melt, add the flour and start whisking to make the roux.
Start adding the pre-warmed milk slowly and in several batches. Whisk continuously throughout this process to break up any lumps.
When the sauce finally starts to boil, it’s ready. It should be smooth, creamy and delicious.
Remove from the heat. Add a little freshly ground pepper, nutmeg, grated Parmesan and 3 egg yolks. Stir and set aside.
Assembly
So, we’ve already layered the aubergines and placed the pumpkin on top; I’ll add the ragù with a spoonful of béchamel, stirring it in, and then pour all the béchamel over the top.
Add a little béchamel to the ragù to create a sticky filling that will hold the dish together.
To finish, sprinkle with Parmesan and pop it in the oven for 25–30 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from the oven.
Leave to cool for at least 1 hour.
Cut into pieces, serve and enjoy!
