Moussaka

On Wednesday, I touched on some of the problems of recipe writing. Other issues can involve sheer carelessness, which brought this particular one to mind. It's broadly based on a recipe which I found online. Step 2 instructed the reader to add the garlic, oregano, cinnamon and chilli. The observant among you will note that chilli isn't mentioned in the list of ingredients. For this dish it doesn't matter, but Tom's Top Tip - always read through the recipe before you start.

August in Johnston Towers involves a lot of visitors. Having the likes of a lasagna is useful as you can heat it up if folk need feeding at odd hours. Although I knew our chums wouldn't be back until after midnight, I was well ahead of the curve, with a big dish of today's special and a big batch of bread rolls. Way to much, but I reasoned that any surplus would keep us going into the week. Ha! By the end of breakfast the following day there remained not one crumb. Tom's Second Top Tip. Folk returning after a concert and post concert drinks are hungrier than you might expect.

I don't know a lot about Greek food, but this tasted pretty darn fine. Zorba would approve. It's not a difficult recipe but there are a good few stages. You can do it well in advance, but I wouldn't add the sauce until you're ready to put it in the oven.

Ingredients (serves 6, or 4 hungry people)

500g lamb mince; 2 aubergines, very thinly sliced crossways; 1 large onion, finely chopped; 2 cloves garlic; 3 - 4 tsp dried oregano; 2tsp ground cinnamon; 2 bay leaves; 200ml red wine; 400g tin of tomatoes; couple of good squeezes of tomato purée; 1- 2 tsp sugar; 400g potatoes (I used Maris Piper) peeled and very thinly sliced; olive oil; s & p.

About 400ml béchamel sauce*; 1 tsp Dijon mustard; good grating of nutmeg; about 40g grated cheese (ideally Parmesan or Gran Padano).

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On a fairly high heat brown the aubergine slices in olive oil. You will have to do them in batches. It will take a good five minutes per batch. You will have to top up the oil, but be careful. Aubergines sop up oil like sponges and you don't want your final dish to be too greasy. Drain on to kitchen paper and set them to one side.

In a separate pan brown the mince. Set to one side. In the same pan, soften the onion and garlic in some more olive oil. Season with s & p. When the onion is soft add the oregano and cinnamon, and cook for a further minute. Return the lamb to the pan, increase the heat and pour in the wine. Allow it to bubble and reduce the liquid by half. Stir in the tomato purée, Add the tomatoes, the bay leaves, about 200 ml water and a teaspoon of sugar.

Reduce the heat and simmer. I assume you taste as you go. If so, the mixture will taste very sour at this stage. You may need more sugar later, but give it time. Cook for about 20 minutes stirring occasionally. You want a nice thick sauce. Check the seasoning.

While the sauce is cooking prep the potatoes. Peel and cut into as thin slices as you can. My recipe said 5mm slices, but who on earth measures them? Par boil for 6 minutes, drain and allow them to dry for a good 10 minutes. At some stage, make your béchamel sauce. Flavour it with the mustard and cheese, and quite a lot of freshly grated nutmeg. The nutmeg flavour should be quite pronounced - it's got to liven up a lot of bland aubergine and potato.

When you're ready to go preheat your oven to 200C/Mark 5. To assemble the moussaka take a large oven proof dish. For the first layer, one third of the meat sauce. Then half of the aubergines and half of the potatoes. Season with s & p. Add the rest of the meat, then the remaining aubergines with the potatoes on top with some more s & p. You can make the dish in advance up to this point.

Pour the béchamel evenly over the top. I kid you not, the recipe I saw instructed you to smooth it with a palette knife! No! - but that's why I suggested that your sauce should be thin. Bake for about 50 minutes until golden brown, heated through and the potatoes are soft. If it needs a bit more cooking, cover with foil to stop the top going too dark.

*I'm assuming that by now you know how to make a basic white sauce. If not I see I covered it in a pie recipe some years ago. Find it here.