Moussaka

Slice the eggplants into 1 cm rounds, salt them on both sides and leave for 20 minutes. Then rinse and pat dry with paper towels.

The salt draws out excess moisture, so the eggplants soak up less oil and lose any bitterness.

While the eggplants are salting, peel the potatoes and slice them into 5 mm rounds.

Heat the oven to 200 °C. Spread the eggplant and potato slices in a single layer on two lined baking trays, drizzle with 4 tbsp olive oil and roast for 25 minutes until soft and golden.

Roasting instead of frying keeps the moussaka lighter — in a frying pan eggplants soak up oil like a sponge.

Finely chop the onion and garlic. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan, fry the onion for 5 minutes, then add the beef and cook, breaking up the lumps with a spatula, until no pink remains, another 5–7 minutes.

Add the garlic, tomatoes, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Simmer with the lid ajar over low heat for 20 minutes, until the sauce is thick with hardly any liquid left.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and cook, stirring, for 1–2 minutes. Pour in the warm milk in a thin stream, whisking all the time, and cook until the sauce is as thick as sour cream, 5–7 minutes.

Add the milk gradually and keep whisking, and you won't get lumps.

Take the sauce off the heat and let it stand for 5 minutes. Stir in half the Parmesan, the nutmeg and a pinch of salt. Separate the eggs and beat the yolks into the sauce one at a time, whisking quickly.

Yolks added to a boiling-hot sauce will curdle, which is why it needs to cool slightly first.

Grease a 20×30 cm baking dish with the remaining olive oil. Layer the potatoes, half the eggplant, all the meat sauce and the rest of the eggplant. Pour over the béchamel, smooth the top and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan.

Lower the oven to 180 °C and bake for 45 minutes until golden on top.

Let the moussaka rest for 20 minutes so the layers set, then cut into squares and serve. Done!

Straight from the oven, moussaka falls apart when cut, so don't skip the rest.