“How sentimental. I haven’t been this choked up since I got a hunk of MOUSSAKA caught in my throat!” Okay, if you can name this movie, I will be eternally impressed. Or should I say…Olympically impressed. Okay. Terrible joke. And olympically’s not even a word. Whatever. It’s Monday, don’t talk to me. I had no idea this line was in Hercules until after I made this Moussaka. I put it on for Charlotte one day (thanks Netflix), finally understood Hades’ first line in the movie, and pretty much died laughing. Hades was already my favorite character. And by the way, it’s pronounced moo-sock-uh, not moose-uh-ka like I was saying it until Hades set me straight. Thanks Hades, I owe you one. Also, if you say moussaka out loud the correct way enough times it will make you want to watch Lion King. Just sayin’.
This recipe is madness. MADNESS, I tell you. But IT IS WORTH EVERY SINGLE MOMENT. I’m not one of those cooks that’s going to lie to you and be like all, oh, you can whip this up on a weeknight, no prob. All you have to do is go to a specialty store to buy ground lamb, make a homemade meat sauce, make a homemade white sauce, salt and compress your eggplant slices, rinse them and pat dry, boil potatoes, slice up some zucchini, bake for an hour, and you’re DONE! Um…no. Having said this, every recipe has it’s place in the world. If no one ever made time-consuming food, we would never have croissants, or French onion soup, or anything from the entire country of India. (am I right or am I right?) And I for one refuse to live my life without croissants. Or moussaka. And since you can’t cheat and get moussaka at the bakery…well, you’re welcome. I think it would be fun to make this for a date. Either with your spouse, or someone new, or even a small party of people. Chatting it up in the kitchen is fun.
I guess I should tell you what it is before I start planning your dinner party. Moussaka is a traditional Greek dish. (In case you couldn’t tell by the lamb-cinnamon-eggplant combo. It’s practically screaming Greek. (“You don’t eat meat? You DON’T eat MEAT? That’s okay…I make you lamb.”) I don’t know what it is with me and the movie references today. This is probably one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. And I eat. I eat a lot. I ate a lot of this moussaka and didn’t regret a single bite. It was so, so good. It’s definitely not your typical casserole. Don’t let the cinnamon scare you. It’s not sweet, it just adds great flavor. Take an afternoon sometime and make this with friends. You could even turn on Hercules or My Big Fat Greek Wedding if you wanted to be real authentic. :)
