Photo by Gwénaël Le Vot
SERVES 8–12
Vegetables
1 large russet potato, thinly sliced
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup olive oil, divided
3 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, divided
1 medium eggplant, thinly sliced
2 small (or 1 large) zucchinis, thinly sliced
Filling
1–2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of ground cloves
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 pound ground beef or ground lamb
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 14-ounce jar crushed tomatoes
¼ cup red wine
Bechamel sauce
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2–3 cups milk
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of nutmeg
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
Thyme leaves for garnish
Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease a 13-by-9-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
For vegetables. In a large bowl, add potatoes, onions, salt, pepper, ¼ cup olive oil and 1 teaspoon thyme. Toss well, and spread over bottom of greased baking pan. Bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven. In same bowl, combine eggplant, salt, pepper, ¼ cup olive oil and 1 teaspoon thyme (add another ¼ cup olive oil if eggplant is still dry). Toss well, and layer on top of potatoes. Bake 20 minutes more and remove from oven. Finally, to same bowl, add zucchini, salt, pepper, ¼ cup olive oil and 1 teaspoon thyme. Toss well, and spread on top of eggplant. Bake 20 minutes and remove from oven. Set aside.
For meat filling. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute onions in 1–2 tablespoons olive oil until tender; add garlic, and cook another minute. Add cinnamon and ground cloves; stir, and cook 1 minute. Add tomato paste and ground meat, using wooden spoon to break meat into pieces while cooking. When meat has browned, add salt, pepper, crushed tomatoes and wine; cook 5–10 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated. The mixture should be very thick. Set aside.
For sauce. In a medium pan over medium heat, melt butter and add flour. Whisk to combine into a sand-like consistency. Very gradually, add milk, whisking constantly, until smooth and slightly thick, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add pepper and nutmeg. Whisk in Parmesan cheese until smooth. Set aside.
To assemble. Spread meat filling evenly over vegetables. Using a spatula, spread sauce evenly over filling. Bake 30–40 minutes, until bubbling and brown. Let rest 45–60 minutes to set before serving. Garnish with Parmesan and thyme leaves.
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Recipe tip
Use butter wrappers to grease pans. When preparing baking pans, you can take advantage of the butter leftover on empty butter stick wrappers. This eliminates the need to use cooking spray or use additional butter.
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