Moussaka – Gluten-free version

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Meat sauce

1. 1
   Cut the eggplants into slices 1 cm thick.

   KnifeCutting board
2. 2
   Sprinkle salt over the slices and leave for 20 minutes, then rinse off the salt in cold water and pat dry well.

   ColanderKitchen towel
3. 3
   Brush the slices with some of the olive oil, place them on the oven rack and broil. Turn to the other side.

   Pastry brushOvenOven rackBakeware
4. 4
   Heat the olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat.

   ⚙ Pan-fryingStoveFrying pan
5. 5
   Add the onion and fry 5–8 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and starts to turn golden at the edges. If it browns too fast, lower the heat.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
6. 6
   Raise the heat to medium-high and add the meat. Press it flat over the bottom and leave it for 2–3 minutes without stirring, until a brown crust forms.

   Stove

   💡Brown ground beef in the pot without pressing it: leave it as one 'cake' for a few minutes until a brown crust forms, then break it into chunks. Deep browning = deep flavor.
7. 7
   Break it up with a wooden spoon and fry for 5–7 more minutes, stirring, until no pink is left and the meat browns.

   StoveWooden spoon
8. 8
   Add the tomatoes, season with salt and black pepper and bring to a boil.

   Stove

   💡Add a pinch of sugar or half a grated carrot to a tomato sauce. The natural sugar balances the acidity. Do not add baking soda: it changes the texture and the taste.
9. 9
   Serve hot 0.

   ⚙ SimmeringStoveLid

   💡The slower the sauce cooks, the thicker it gets and the better the flavors blend. 20–30 minutes make a quick meat sauce; an hour and a half to two hours over low heat make a rich Bolognese.

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.

For the Béchamel

1. 10
   Melt the butter in a pot over medium heat, add the gluten-free flour blend and stir 1–2 minutes, until a smooth roux forms and starts to bubble.

   StovePot
2. 11
   Gradually add the milk, whisking constantly, and cook 5–8 minutes, until the sauce is thick and coats the back of a spoon.

   StoveWhisk

   💡Add the milk slowly, whisking constantly, so no lumps form. For lasagna, the common ratio is about 7 g gluten-free flour blend per 100 ml milk (4 tablespoons gluten-free flour blend to 2 cups): more gluten-free flour blend gives a thick béchamel, for moussaka; less gluten-free flour blend gives a soft béchamel, for a sauce.
3. 12
   Season with salt.

To assemble

1. 13
   Arrange a third of the eggplant in the baking dish and cover with half the meat. Arrange another third of the eggplant, cover with the rest of the meat and finish with the rest of the eggplant.

   Baking pan
2. 14
   Pour the white sauce over the eggplant and bake medium for about 40 minutes, until the white sauce browns.

   OvenBaking pan