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Moussaka

Try Rick Stein's take on this traditional Greek recipe, combining spiced lamb mince and creamy white sauce.

By bbcfood · From Open Recipes · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Olive and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 14,164 recipes mention both. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 6
Prep30 min
Cook2 hr

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Cut the aubergines lengthwise into slices, sprinkle with salt, and leave for 20 minutes. Pat dry with paper towels. Heat the oven to 190°C (375°F).

  2. Fry the aubergine slices in olive oil over medium heat until golden on both sides, about 3 minutes per side, adding more oil as needed. Drain on paper towels.

  3. Heat olive oil in a large pan, add the finely chopped onion and cook until soft, about 8 minutes. Add the crushed garlic and cook for 1 minute.

  4. Add the lamb mince and break it up. Brown for about 8 minutes until no pink remains and it reaches 160°F (71°C). Pour in the white wine and simmer until reduced, about 3 minutes.

  5. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, cinnamon stick, oregano, salt and pepper. Simmer uncovered over low heat for 40 minutes, stirring often. Remove the cinnamon stick.

  6. For the sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the milk and simmer, stirring, until thick, about 5 minutes. Off the heat, stir in half the parmesan and season.

  7. Beat the eggs and whisk them into the sauce until smooth.

  8. Spread half the aubergine in an ovenproof dish, spoon over the lamp mixture, and top with the remaining aubergine. Pour the sauce over and sprinkle with the remaining parmesan.

  9. Bake for 45 minutes until golden and bubbling, with the centre reaching 160°F (71°C). Rest for 10 minutes before serving.

By bbcfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together14,164 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together29,030 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Garlic + tomatotop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together14,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  4. Olive + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together23,449 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Tomato + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together17,913 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the cinnamon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, onion, garlic, lamb, white wine, tomato, pepper):

  1. Thymebetter flavor fit
  2. Corianderbetter flavor fit
  3. Cuminbetter flavor fit
  4. Cinnamonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, onion, garlic, lamb, white wine, tomato, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).