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Savory Sundays: Meat and Potato Gratin {Traditional Macedonian Moussaka}

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Meat and Potato Gratin - Moussaka

Today is my Birthday!! I am turning 21! For the fourteenth year in a row! 😉 Happy Birthday to ME!

Many moons ago, during my first year in college, I wanted to celebrate my birthday with a meal prepared by yours truly for a few special people. I chose to make this traditional Macedonian moussaka, or a meat and potato gratin, and serve it with a side of homemade bread and a simple salad. Sounds great, right? Well…

All I knew about moussaka was that it was made with potatoes and ground beef. Simple, I thought. Homemade bread? No problem; I have a ciabatta recipe. This was my birthday menu and I was super excited!

Meat and Potato Gratin

I browned the beef. I even sprinkled it with some seasonings. I cut the potatoes and layered them in my baking dish. I topped the potatoes with beef, and added one more layer of potatoes. I set the oven to 425, because that just sounded right to me, and placed my pretty meal in the oven to bake. No eggs, no milk. Somehow, without anything to bind it together, this meal was going to come together as good as my Mom’s and we were going to lick our fingers clean. Ehhhh! WRONG!

Nevermind the fact that I was so upset about my Moussaka not coming out like my Mom’s; at the time I could not figure out why it didn’t. All I had in that casserole dish was burnt potatoes and ground beef. It was dry and tasteless. I truly had not a clue about using milk and eggs in this dish. At the time I thought eggs were only used for breakfast and cakes.

Because I was so upset, I never got around to making that bread, either. No Moussaka, no bread… Giordano’s deep dish pizza was the next best option.

So. Let’s get this right – It’s layer of potatoes, layer of ground beef, another layer of potatoes, topped with a mixture of milk and eggs. Got it? Good! 🙂

Meat and Potato Gratin

ENJOY!

Meat and Potato Gratin | www.diethood.com
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Meat and Potato Gratin {Traditional Macedonian Moussaka}

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion , thinly sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic , minced
  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 3 teaspoons paprika
  • 5 to 6 medium sized potatoes , peeled, thinly sliced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 1/2 cups milk
  • 3 eggs

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375.
  2. Heat olive oil in heavy skillet over medium heat and add onion and garlic. Cook and stir until translucent.
  3. Add ground beef and paprika, and cook until beef is browned. Remove from heat and set aside.
  4. Butter a 13x9-inch glass baking dish.
  5. Layer half of the sliced potatoes and sprinkle with a small amount of salt and pepper.
  6. Top the potatoes with the ground beef.
  7. Spread remaining potatoes over beef, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  8. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk and eggs until thoroughly combined.
  9. Pour the milk mixture into dish to cover potatoes; cover with foil.
  10. Bake for 45 minutes, or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.
  11. Remove foil and continue to bake until top is brown and bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes.
  12. Let rest 15 minutes before cutting and serving.

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Comments

  7. Just made this for the family and it was fab. Made a few changes though… used Turkey mince and put a layer of low fat mozzarella and light marscapone cheese sauce over each layer of potatoes. Also put some peas in with the meat. Thanks for posting!

    Reply

  9. Happy birthday again. 🙂 This looks delicious. I could eat way too much of this. Great choice for a celebratory meal. I always like comfort food on my birthday.

    Reply

  11. Happy Birthday! I haven’t made this in a long time and it’s long overdue! The first time I made it was when I was preggers-talk about risk! My recipes didn’t seem to come out right when I was pregnant,so I had my mom on speed-dial 🙂

    Reply

  12. Happy, happy birthday, Kate! The hubby would LOVE your moussaka…no eggplant! And I love a one dish meal…mmmmmmm. And I haven’t thought of Giordano’s pizza in years…so good 🙂

    Reply

  14. Oh no I missed your b-day by one day. Sorry for my belated birthday wish, but I still want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I so wish to be celebrating 21 again, I don’t even remember how many years ago… lol. Still have no husband around so this sounds like a perfect easy dinner for three of us!

    Reply

  16. Happy Birthday!! Glad to see you’re still celebrating your 21st! I finally had to switch to a higher number. 🙂 What a great dish to celebrate your birthday with! Meat and potatoes – you can eat more comfort food than that!

    Reply

  17. Happy Happy Birthday!!!! Yay to being a January baby, we ROCK!!! I have never made moussaka, but it truly looks delicious! What a wonderful dish to enjoy for your special day! I hope your day is filled with happiness, smiles, and lots of laughter! Big hugs, Terra

    Reply

  22. Happy Birthday Katerina!! Wishing you many, many more 21st birthdays. 🙂

    Lovely Moussaka! See how far you have come from that first try so many moons ago. You got it down to a science now. 🙂

    Hope you enjoyed every bite…. and some birthday cake. 🙂

    Reply

  25. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATERINA! 🙂

    I absolutely love moussaka. My mums moussaka always seems better than mine even though the recipe is the same. Mmmm……..I wonder why that is?

    Reply

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