Moussaka

by Paul Warburton on 28 May 2010  |  4 comments
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Check out this amazing recipe for moussaka – for £1.48 per person!

Welcome to our new Frugal Recipe blog! If you're registered on lovemoney.com, you can follow this blog and find new posts as soon as they are published, via your personal homepage. Never miss a frugal recipe again - register now.

Moussaka (Serves a hungry 4!)

Traditional moussakas will have lemon zest, fresh parsley and white wine in – all of which take us out of the frugal theme. But this dish is all about the all spice, oregano and cinnamon – the spices just work so wonderfully well with lamb. It truly is a simple classic.

Ingredients

• 500g of lamb mince (£2.99)
• 3 large aubergines (£1.64)
• 1 large brown onion (16p)
• 1 pint of semi skimmed milk (45p)
• 1 tin (400g) of chopped tomatoes (33p)
• 500g of plain flour (35p) – we’re using 75g of plain flour

The cupboard staples…

Salt, black pepper, olive oil, 3 cloves of garlic, 75g of butter, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon all spice and 1 tablespoon of dried oregano.

Total cost

If you already have the cupboard staples, then according to mysupermarket.co.uk, this trolley was cheapest at Sainsbury’s where it came to £5.92 - that's £1.48 per head!

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 185C.
• Let’s kick off with the lamb mixture. Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil to a deep, wide frying pan at a medium low heat – add the finely chopped onion and garlic and gently cook through until the onions become translucent. Now add the all spice, cinnamon and lamb mince and fry off until the mince is nicely browned all over. Finally add the tomatoes, oregano, ½ pint of water and season well – simmer down the mixture for 20 minutes.
• Whilst the lamb mixture is reducing you can make the béchamel sauce which is the topping for the moussaka. Warm the milk gently in a saucepan and keep warm ready to use. Now melt the butter in a thick bottomed saucepan over a low heat and then stir in the flour – cook through for around 3 minutes without colouring too much. Now gradually stir in the milk. Keep stirring until you have a nice smooth béchamel. Season with a little salt and white pepper. Cover and set to one side.
• Next up are the aubergines. Slice lengthways to around ½ a cm thick and fry in some olive oil until browned. Remove from the pan once browned and place the aubergines on some kitchen paper to get rid of the excess fat. The lamb mixture will also be ready to take off the heat
• Last thing to do is assemble the moussaka and place in the oven. Grab a deep oven proof dish (such as a lasagne dish) and lay half of the aubergines along the bottom. Now pour in all the lamb mixture and spread evenly and then add another layer of aubergines. Finally, pour over the béchamel sauce and place in the oven for 40-45 minutes (until the top has browned). Do try and let it rest for 10 minutes before serving.
• Happy eating!

A bit about the Frugal Recipes chef, Paul Warburton

Paul Warburton, a lovemoney.com staff member, had a hectic career in the world of hot kitchens and screaming chefs before joining the lovemoney.com products development team.

During these years, under the tutorage of some great chefs, he honed his skills in cooking for numbers within a tight cost and portion-controlled environment.

Now he's planning to regularly offer his help to all budding chefs in the lovemoney.com community, so you can enjoy his original, low-cost recipes with your family and friends every Friday for free!

What lovemoney.com readers have said about Paul's other recipes

"We enjoyed this recipe very much: easy to make and even easier to eat!" varneyrob

“Thanks Paul, another great tasting easy recipe. It was my first risotto attempt ever and it was great, I even impressed my in-laws with it. Many thanks...” welshlady

"I made this recipe and it was absolutely delicious! Seriously good! Five of us feasted on it, and feasted well..." Ibeshy

"I made this recipe on Saturday night, and my 13 year-old son promptly requested it again for the following night!" Malcolm Wheatley

"This is a cracking risotto recipe. Just had it for lunch & it's a winner. More recipes please. Thanks." SavvyLass

"Another delicious offering from Paul. Thank you - keep 'em coming!" Palefire

Please add your own comments using the comments box below!

If you like this recipe, why not also try Paul's other Frugal Recipes:   Pan fried trout fillets with a dill potato salad | Chicken braised with cider and red cabbage (and proper baked potatoes) | Lincolnshire sausages with red onion gravy and thyme and Gouda polenta | Beef enchiladas with a lime sour cream | Slow roasted duck legs and charlotte potatoes with a carrot and cumin salad | Paella | Asparagus and gruyere tart with new potatoes | Haddock fishcakes with radish and watercress salad and lemon crème fraiche dressing | Prawn and pea risotto Honey roasted gammon and apples with champ | Hot chocolate fondants with crème Chantilly | Shin of beef, kidney and ale pie Tandoori chicken with coconut rice & mint raita | Homemade gnocchi with a tomato & thyme sauce, spinach and ricotta  | Frugal Pancakes | Griddled black pudding, chimichurri mash and caramelised apples  | Mixed bean and coriander green curry with fragrant rice  | Lamb koftas with a feta, mint and chickpea salad & chilli grilled pittas  | Pork, rosemary and white bean ravioli with a chilli tomato sauce  | Sausage & leek casserole with parsley dumpings | Pork, chorizo & cannellini bean stew | Rabbit, bacon & thyme pie | Potato rosti with creamed spinach and poached egg | Pumpkin and sage risotto | Slow braised oxtail with autumn mash | Spiced whole mackerel with chickpea salad | Twice cooked belly pork (with gravy) parsnips and sweet apple red cabbage | Roasted pheasant | Portobello mushroom, port and stilton wellington | Lemon tart with fresh vanilla mascarpone | Massaman curry |  Smoked mackerel pate on crostini and red onion confit  |Rolled breast of lamb with garlic mash and Savoy cabbage | Lemon & rosemary chicken thighs |  Thai Pollock curry with egg noodles | Chunky pea and ham soup| Spaghetti alla carbonara | Pork stroganoff | Green chilli meat balls, sunflower seed couscous salad and mint yoghurt |  Tagliatelle with air dried cured ham and minted peas | Beef, thyme and mushroom loaf with potato dauphinoise | Mixed bean and coriander green curry with fragrant rice | Egg Florentine with smoked cheddar and rocket salad | Beef, mushroom and thyme pie | Spicy tuna, bean and coriander lasagne |  Beef koftas with a feta, spinach and fresh mint salad | Chorizo and pea risotto | Sausage and rosemary hotpot | Beef & thyme (Lancashire) hotpot

Remember, if you're registered on lovemoney.com, you can follow this blog and find new posts as soon as they are published, via your personal homepage. Never miss a frugal recipe again - register now.