Moussaka (mccall's Cooking School)

Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• 2 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons margarine
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 1/2 lbs ground lamb or 1 1/2 lbs chuck
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash pepper
• 2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 2 eggplants (1-pound-4-ounce)
• salt
• 1/2 cup butter or 1/2 cup margarine, melted
• 2 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons margarine
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt and dash pepper
• 2 cups milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs

Recipe

• 1 meat sauce - in hot butter in a 3-1/2 quart dutch oven, sauté onion, lamb or chuck, and garlic, stirring until brown - about 10 minutes. add herbs, spices, and tomato sauce; bring to boiling, stirring. reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 1/2 hour.
• 2 have unpared eggplant lengthwise; slice crosswise, 1/2-inch thick. place in bottom of broiler pan; sprinkle light with salt; brush lightly with melted butter. broil, 4-inches from heat, 4 minutes per side, or until golden.
• 3 make cream sauce - in medium saucepan, melt butter. remove from heat; stir in flour, salt, and pepper. add milk gradually. bring to boiling; stirring until mixture is thickened. remove from heat.
• 4 in small bowl, beat eggs with wire whisk. beat in some hot cream sauce mixture; return mixture to saucepan; mix well; set aside.
• 5 preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• 6 to assemble - in bottom of a shallow 2-quart baking dish (12 x 7-1/2 x 2-inches), layer half of eggplant, overlapping slightly; sprinkle with 2 tablespoons each grated parmesan and cheddar cheese. stir bread crumbs into meat sauce; spoon evenly over eggplant in casserole; then sprinkle with 2 tablespoons each parmesan and cheddar cheese. layer remaining eggplant slices, overlapping, as before. pour cream sauce over all. sprinkle top with remaining cheese.
• 7 bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown and top is set. if desired, brown top a little more until broiler - about 1 minutes. cool slightly to serve. cut in squares.