Potato Moussaka 🍲 Serbian Home-Style 🇷🇸 (Musaka od Krompira)

Description

Layers of thin-sliced potatoes and savory beef-onion filling under a golden yogurt-egg custard—silky center, crisp edges. 🥔✨

Hook: Weeknight-friendly classic—clean layers, deep flavor, and a burnished top. ⚡

Ingredients

• Potato layers
• 🥔 Waxy potatoes, peeled & 3–4 mm slices: 1.2 kg (about 8 medium / 2.6 lb)
• 🫗 Sunflower or olive oil (for brushing): 30 ml (2 tbsp / 1 fl oz)
• 🧂 Salt: to taste (≈6 g / 1 tsp)
• ⚫ Black pepper: ½ tsp (1 g / 0.04 oz)
• Meat filling
• 🧅 Onion, finely chopped: 250 g (1½ cups / 9 oz)
• 🧄 Garlic, minced: 8 g (2 cloves / 0.3 oz)
• 🐄 Ground beef (80/20) or beef–pork mix: 700 g (1½ lb)
• 🫗 Sunflower oil: 30 ml (2 tbsp / 1 fl oz)
• 🌶️ Sweet paprika: 6 g (2 tsp / 0.21 oz)
• 🍅 Tomato paste: 20 g (1 tbsp / 0.7 oz)
• 🧂 Salt: to taste (≈8 g / 1½ tsp)
• ⚫ Black pepper: ½ tsp (1 g / 0.04 oz)
• 💧 Water or stock (to loosen): 60 ml (¼ cup / 2 fl oz)
• Custard topping
• 🥛 Plain yogurt (Balkan/Greek): 300 g (1¼ cups / 10.6 oz)
• 🥚 Eggs: 3 large (≈150 g / 5.3 oz)
• 🥛 Milk: 120 ml (½ cup / 4 fl oz)
• 🧂 Salt: pinch (≈1 g / ⅙ tsp)
• To serve
• 🌿 Parsley, chopped: 1 tbsp (4 g / 0.14 oz)
• 🥒 Pickled salad or cabbage (optional): to taste

Preparation

1. 1️⃣ Heat oven & prep pan: Preheat to 190°C / 375°F. Brush a 30×20 cm (9×13 in) baking dish with oil.
2. 2️⃣ Meat base: Sauté onion in oil 6–7 min until translucent; add garlic 30 sec. Crumble in meat; cook 6–8 min until no longer pink. Stir in paprika and tomato paste 1 min; season with salt/pepper and splash in water/stock to make juicy but not soupy. Remove from heat.
3. 3️⃣ Layer: Toss potato slices with a little oil, salt, and pepper. Lay half the potatoes in overlapping shingles in the dish. Spread all the meat evenly. Top with remaining potatoes in neat layers; brush the top lightly with oil.
4. 4️⃣ Bake (stage 1): Cover with foil and bake 30 min until potatoes start to soften.
5. 5️⃣ Custard: Whisk yogurt, eggs, milk, and a pinch of salt until smooth.
6. 6️⃣ Bake (stage 2): Uncover dish; pour custard evenly over the top. Bake 20–25 min more until deep golden and set at the center.
7. 7️⃣ Rest & serve: Rest 10–15 min for clean slices. Sprinkle parsley; serve warm with a crisp salad.

Total Time

🕒 Prep: 25 min
🔥 Cook: 50–55 min
⏳ Total: 1 h 15–20 min

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