Moussaka pan

Ingredients for 3 servings:

• 1 small eggplant(s)
• some sugar
• 250 g minced beef
• 1 small onion(s)
• 1 clove(s) garlic
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 large potatoes, waxy
• 2 large vine tomatoes
• 100 ml olive oil
• 1 tbsp thyme, dried
• 1 tbsp oregano, dried
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 hour 50 minutes

without béchamel sauce

Wash the eggplant and cut into approximately 1 cm thick slices. Lightly sprinkle with salt and sugar on both sides on a prepared kitchen towel and let stand for approximately 20 minutes. Dice the onion and dice or finely press the garlic. Cut the tomatoes into 5 mm slices. Peel the potatoes and slice them into thin, even slices using a peeler. Bring a pot of water large enough to hold the potatoes to a boil. When the water boils, lightly salt it. Cook the finely sliced ​​potatoes uncovered for approximately 5 minutes and drain through a sieve. The potatoes should not be completely cooked. Pat the eggplant slices dry with another (fresh) kitchen towel and heat approximately 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan. Fry the eggplant on both sides until browned. Adjust the heat if necessary. Especially if you need two or more batches, be careful not to burn anything. Place the cooked eggplants on a fresh kitchen towel and set aside. Fry the minced meat in the same pan until crumbly, adding a little more oil if necessary and heating. After about a minute, add the tomato paste to the pan, followed by the onion and garlic. Once everything is slightly browned, reduce the heat considerably. Season with a little thyme, oregano (fresh is fine), salt, and pepper. Spread the pre-cooked potato slices over the minced meat, season everything again with the same herbs, then add the eggplant slices and finally the tomatoes, which can also be sprinkled with a little salt, pepper, and herbs (I don’t season the eggplant layer additionally because of the pre-treatment). Now place a suitable lid on the pan and simmer everything on the lowest heat until the tomatoes are soft. This takes about 20 minutes. I serve it with tzatziki.