CHEF and blogger Paul James writes for our paper.

We all know the best-known version of this meat, aubergine, potato and creamy white sauce dish is the the world famous Mousakka from Greece.

Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Middle East all have their own versions – but nearly all have one thing in common and that’s the aubergine.

The modern Greek version was created by the French-trained Greek chef Nikolaos Tselementes in the 1920s and it is a spongy like texture which gives it the unique ability to soak up oils, sauces and flavours alike.

I have written a recipe for Mousakka before in this column but I’ve tweaked this dish many times, mainly due to my love of Greek cuisine and of course Corfu.

A traditional Mousakka uses lamb mince, but to be truthful, I find it’s to overpowering in flavour and has more fat content making it slightly greasier than my meatier mince steak version.

I’ve also added red wine to it, this gives it a more robust and fruitier taste.

Hopefully when you are reading this recipe I will be visiting Corfu for a couple of days to pick up some local ingredients.

Visit recipesfrommytravels.com or facebook.com/recipesfrommytravels for more on Paul’s blog and his recipes.

Mousakka

Ingredients

Aubergines sliced to about 1cm in thickness

Potatoes sliced to about 0.5cm in thickness

500g of steak mince

A tin of tomatoes

1tsp olive oil

Medium onions finely sliced

300ml of red wine

1 bay leaf

1 clove of garlic, finely minced

A pinch of dried oregano

1/2tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup grated cheese

salt and pepper

Bechamel sauce

Method

1. Slice the aubergine to about 1cm thick, place gently into a bowl and sprinkle with some sea salt, this will draw the moisture out.

2. Leave for about half an hour. Some recipes call for rinsing the salt off – yeah, the mind boggles at that considering you want to draw moisture out. Anyway, then slice your potatoes about 1/2cm thick and lay flat on a baking tray.

3. Heat a frying pan to medium and add the oil.

4. Fry the onions until translucent. Then add the garlic and tomato purée.

5. Mix then fry gently for a couple of minutes.

6. Now add the steak mince until cooked.

7. Add the cinnamon, bay leaf & dried oregano and stir well.

8. Then add the wine.

9. Higher the heat up and bring the mince mixture to the boil, simmer and reduce until the liquid has gone.

10. In a pre-heated oven at 180c add the sliced potatoes, that you have sprinkled with a tiny amount of olive oil.

11. Then place the aubergines onto a baking tray and with a paper towel wipe off any excess salt and moisture. Sprinkle with a tiny amount of olive oil and place into the oven with the potatoes.

12. Cook until the potatoes have got a slight golden tint and the aubergine starts going soft but still holding a bit of firmness.

Remove and leave to one side.

14. Go back to the meat mixture which by now the wine would have reduced right down.

15. Now add the tinned tomatoes and bring back up to boil.

Now start to assemble the Mousakka.

16. You could make your own Bechamel, but life is just to hectic and to be honest you really wouldn’t notice the difference with all of the delicious flavours you have going on elsewhere in the dish.

But here is the ingredients and method for the Bechamel sauce if you want to make your own

40g of unsalted butter

40g of plain flour

40g of freshly grated Parmesan

400ml of milk

1 large egg plus I added yolk lightly beaten together.

A pinch of nutmeg

17. In a saucepan melt the butter, stir in the flour for a minute then gradually pour in the milk, stirring all the time. Remove from the heat, then add the parmesan, nutmeg and whisk in until it becomes smooth. Next add the egg mixture and mix well.

(Now if the Bechamel turns out lumpy and to thick…..well tough….you should have listened and bought the ready made stuff )

18. Firstly in a baking dish I add a layer of potatoes first, then add a layer of meat, then the aubergine, more meat then potato.

Then finish with the Bechamel.

19. Top with the grated cheese and bake in a hot oven until it turns golden.

20. Leave to cool for ten minutes, then serve with a simple salad.