Moussaka, Josh Cohen's recipe

moussaka, simple as you like…
This will make one for eight.


 • Chop and fry four medium onions in a generous amount of olive oil until very soft. Add three chopped cloves of garlic about 10-15 minutes in.
 • Add 2kg of mince of any kind: lamb, chicken, soya, whatever.
 • 5 mins before the mince is done, add four large chopped tomatoes. If you can be bothered, use boiling water to peel and deseed fresh tomatoes. If you can’t, just stick em in with the peel on or use a can.
 • Once the mince is cooked, add about two large glasses of red wine, bring to bubbling, then bring it all down to a simmer (a.k.a. low heat). It should take about 45 minutes for the wine to reduce. When it’s done it should look moist and rich in colour. Make sure all the wine is cooked off – believe me, puddles of booze do not improve your moussaka.
 • While you’re waiting for the wine to reduce, slice six medium aubergines quite thickly – say 2-3 cm (they reduce a lot). Lay them on oven trays, salt them, then brush on both sides with olive oil. This bit is tedious. Pop them in the oven for around 30-40 mins at 160C, or until they’re looking golden brown.
 • By now, both the mince filling and the aubergine should have cooked. Add a big bunch of finely chopped parsley to the mince right at the end of cooking and stir through.
 • Let the mince cool (it’s more pliable). Then place a layer of the mince in a big, long oven dish, followed by a layer of the roasted aubergines, then a layer of mince, then of aubergines. Lay the mince on thick if you just want to make it two layers, or slightly thinner if you want to make it stretch to three. I prefer two but it depends on the size and shape of the dish.
 • You can put it in the fridge or freeze. If the freezer, defrost before cooking, then place in the oven for around 45 mins on 160C, covered in tin foil (very important).


It’s simple, but labour intensive. And really delicious.