Moussaka

Ingredients

• 0.3 cup butter 
• 0.5 cup cheese grated (use Parmesan if unavailable)
• 2 teaspoons basil dried
• 2 lbs eggplant 
• 2  eggs slightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons flour 
• 2  garlic clove minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 2 lbs ground beef 
• 2 cups milk hot
• 0.3 cup olive oil 
• 8 servings olive oil 
• 0.8 cup olives ripe chopped
• 2 large onion finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon oregano dried
• 1 cup parmesan 
• 2  potatoes cut into 1/ rounds or long slices, enough to cover bottom of baking pan in 1 layer)
• 0.3 teaspoon salt 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 8 servings salt 
• 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs 
• 15 ounces tomato sauce 
• 1 cup cheddar cheese white

Equipment

• baking sheet
• paper towels
• sauce pan
• oven
• whisk
• baking pan
• aluminum foil
• broiler
• microwave
• peeler

Directions

1. In large, heavy saucepan, heat 1/4 cup oil; saute finely ground meat, onion and garlic until lightly browned; add oregano, basil, cinnamon, salt, ripe olives (if using) and tomato sauce; Cover and simmer slowly about 30 minutes; uncover and simmer slowly another 30 minutes.While sauce simmers, prepare Bechamel Sauce (recipe below) and eggplant; cut ends from eggplant (1 large or 2 small) and cut in 1/2-inch-thick slices (if using large, flask-type eggplant, peel the skin off in strips with a vegetable peeler - creating a striped look - with some of the peel left on and some off. If using Japanese-style (the longish, purply-white ones), don't bother to peel at all);
2. Place on a cookie sheet and brush with remaining olive oil;
3. Place under broiler and broil until light brown;
4. shallow-fry potato rounds in olive oil until golden-brown or,
5. for fewer calories, arrange the potato slices in your baking pan, brush lightly with olive oil, bake for 15 minutes, continue with assembly, or
6. if you want to cut calories further, parboil them for 8 minutes; drain well on paper towels.To assemble: In 13x9x2-inch baking dish, arrange layer of potatoes, overlapping slightly, season lightly (there will be only one layer of potatoes, so use them all up); next, do a layer of eggplant; sprinkle some Parmesan, kaseri (or cheddar) and bread crumbs over eggplant; layer meat sauce, freshly grated cheeses, crumbs and Bechamel Sauce until all is used; bake 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees or until flecked golden-brown on top.To make Bechamel Sauce: In saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat; whisk in flour and cook slowly until smooth and lightly cooked (2-3 minutes); add salt and remove from heat; add milk, whisking rapidly and return to heat; cook until thick and bubbly, whisking constantly; allow to cool 5 minutes, whisking once in a while to prevent a skin from forming; incorporate eggs and grated cheese with wire whisk to make fluffy sauce.Freezer Notes: Once the baked moussaka has completely cooked, cut serving-size pieces, double-wrap in foil and freeze. Defrost in the usual manner and reheat in microwave (or oven) for a delicious, quick meal, when there's little time to cook and dinner is ready and waiting in the freezer!