Keto Moussaka! The most authentic version

Keto Moussaka – could be the most famous Greek dish to Ketonise. The actual word or origin might not be 100% Greek, but we made it famous. You would be surprised it has been loved and hated at the same time throughout history.

Some Greeks dislike Moussaka, while others think of it as the holy grail of mother’s cuisine. I always had a special connection to it. I remember this dish as something you expect with anticipation because it takes hours to prepare it.

The golden rule says you must not cut it before it cools down and sets. That’s the rule for all dishes made with béchamel cream and layers of vegetables.

Even though I wasn’t always Keto evangelist, I never liked the potatoes! So, what can be done here? Keto Moussaka was born out of a wish for a healthier version of the legendary Greek dish!

Excluding the starchy part form Keto Moussaka

If you think of Moussaka and its aromatic ingredients, it really has a great potential to become the ultimate Keto dish! It calls for butter, combined with olive oil and cream. Of course, I will exclude the famous Béchamel sauce that is usually prepared with flour or corn starch.

Unfortunately, the original Greek moussaka is made with fried potato slices. I will not even go into the details about the unhealthiness of that. I will skip them and work around zucchini and eggplant!

Patience with Keto Moussaka

The modern Greek version of this dish was created by the French-trained chef Nikolaos Tselementes in the 1920s. It requires time and a lot of patience. You have to fry the sliced vegetables in olive oil and prepare the meat sauce before you start layering and building. Then you have to prepare the bechamel and top it with shredded cheese. This could take you several hours. However, patience is a virtue!

The Keto Moussaka was invented by young Keto oriented nutritionist who tries to promote Keto-Mediterranean lifestyle to people around the globe and even some good aliens! 😀 Enough jokes, let’s get to work!

After trying this version, I believe that Keto Moussaka can compete with any starchy version both in taste, aroma and satiety power. I actually believe it would win any Moussaka competition!

For a Carnivore version of Keto Moussaka, check out this recipe:

Keto Moussaka

Recipe by Roberta Kapsalis

4.2 from 44 votes

Course: Main courseCuisine: Keto MediterraneanDifficulty: Advanced

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Servings

Adjust servings

+

–

6

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

1

hour 

Calories

524

kcal

Ingredients

• 2 large zucchinis

• 1 large egg plant

• 4 tbsp olive oil

• Meat sauce

• 1 kg (35,2 oz) minced lamb, veal or beef

• 1 medium onion

• 6 cloves garlic

• 1 stick cinnamon

• 1 tbsp red paprika powder

• 2 tbsp goat or sheep butter or lamb tallow

• 1 tsp oregano

• 1/2 tsp black pepper

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 2 tbsp organic tomato purée

• 2 whole bay leaves

• 2 medium eggs

• 1/2 tsp dried peppermint

• Topping

• 4 medium eggs

• 500g (17,6 oz) mascarpone or goat cream cheese

• 1 pinch of grated nutmeg

• 4 tbsp grated Gravera cheese or other type of aged cheese

Directions

• Slice the zucchini and eggplant and place them on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with olive oil and some sea salt. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 200ºC (390ºF)
• Chop the onion and garlic and sauté them in butter or tallow until light brown. Add meat, sea salt and stir. Cook the meat until it’s brown then add red paprika powder, a little bit of water and tomato purée. Stir and cover the pot.
• Add all the remaining spices and if necessary, add some more water. Cook for another 10 minutes and then remove from heat.
• Whisk two eggs and add them to the meat sauce. Stir energetically. It’s important that the sauce is not boiling so that the eggs thicken it, but they should not get cooked.
• Prepare a deep baking pan (preferably ceramic) by greasing it with some butter or tallow. Place the first layer of eggplant. Sprinkle some grated cheese to serve as a glue. Now place slices of baked zucchini as the second layer.
• Now pour the meat sauce over the zucchini layer and even it with a spoon. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 15 minutes at 200ºC (390ºF). Remove from oven.
• Mix the Mascarpone or goat cream cheese with eggs and nutmeg. Pour this mixture over the meat sauce which was previously slightly baked in the oven.
• Sprinkle the remaining grated cheese on top. Return the moussaka to the oven for another 15 minutes or until the cheese turns golden-brown.

Notes

• Never cut Moussaka before it’s halfway cooled down. This way you will get perfectly cut portions that will resemble pieces of cake.

Did you make this recipe?

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