Lazy Moussaka

Moussaka is one of those things I've never bothered to make before because it seems too complicated and time consuming, like lasagne. But, also like lasagne, I really enjoy eating it, so after having some delicious moussaka on holiday with friends recently, I asked for the recipe. It's easy, said the friend who'd made it, it's a Delia recipe....

Which she duly sent over to me. Alas, Delia,  the first part of the recipe involved an inordinate amount of faffing about with aubergines and salt, so at that point I lost interest and decided to find an easier recipe to follow. And here's what you do:

Get your aubergine and prick with a fork. Which always reminds me of this ;-)

But anyway, once you've had a little chuckle, stick the aubergine in the microwave for 2 or 3 minutes til it goes soft. Meanwhile, fry off some mince, lamb is nice but beef will do) bit of tomato purée (or ketchup works just as well) and a tin of chopped tomatoes (you can get them with herbs and garlic already added for extra laziness) and season (adding cinnamon is traditional). Slosh in some red wine (no idea if that's traditional but it's required in this house)...... then shove that into your ovenproof dish, slice the soggy aubergine up (use a serrated knife!) and layer on top and finally top with a mix of yoghurt or crème fraiche, an egg and some grated cheese (strong Cheddar or Parmesan), I added a pinch of nutmeg just to be exotic. And some Tabasco to the mince......

Cook in oven til brownish on top. Eat with garlic bread (Lidl do a nice pack of sliced garlic toast) and Greek salad so you can watch one of your kids refuse to touch it and the other one pick out all the olives and tomatoes.

Apologies to anyone of Greek extraction who knows how to make a proper Moussaka. This one tastes just fine to us :-)