Don't Sweat the Aubergine

cream or milk with the liquid you add to the ragu. Many recipes include carrot with the onion, celery and garlic. Carrot undoubtedly adds sweetness to the sauce; but, as I say elsewhere, I don’t particularly like finding flavourless bits of it in my meal. If you have no stock, don’t use a cube, which would impart a flavour quite unlike anything you want to find in a pasta sauce; try a bought carton or jar of stock, or (used cautiously) a tin of beef consommé.
    Use this sauce with spaghetti, tagliatelle or any pasta you like; use it (without cream or milk, which will be in the béchamel ) in lasagne ( see here ). A simpler version, with lamb instead of beef (though of course you can use beef if you want), forms the basis of a moussaka.
MOUSSAKA
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HOW TO MAKE IT
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    For 4
    Olive oil
    3 onions, chopped
    3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
    500g lean minced lamb (or beef)
    150ml white or red wine
    1 tbsp tomato paste
    4 aubergines, cut in 2 horizontally, then cut vertically in 1/2cm slices
    Béchamel sauce ( see here ), made with 500ml milk, 57g butter, 57g flour
    20g Parmesan cheese
    2 eggs, beaten
    Put a layer of olive oil in a casserole, and soften the onion and garlic in it over a gentle heat, until the onion is golden – 15 to 20 minutes.
    Meanwhile, form the mince into 6 hamburger-shaped patties, and lightly coat them with oil. Put a ridged grill pan or heavy frying pan on a medium to high heat; when the pan is very hot, brown the patties, perhaps in 2 batches of 3 . They should take no more than a minute a side. Transfer to a plate.
    Pour the wine into the casserole with the softened vegetables, and simmer for a couple of minutes. Add the tomato paste and a little salt; a pinch or two of cinnamon, if you like it, works well in a moussaka. Tip in the browned patties of mince. Heat the contents of the casserole gently, breaking up the patties so that the uncooked meat in the centre gets heated; simmer until there is no liquid left. Test the seasoning.
    The last time I made a moussaka, I didn’t fry the lamb: I simply added it to the softened onions and garlic, broke it up, poured in wine, added tomato paste with salt and a pinch of cinnamon, and simmered this stew until the liquid had evaporated. It may have been just as good.
    Brush the aubergine slices with olive oil, season with salt, and bake in a gas mark 6/200°C oven for 20 minutes to half an hour, or until tender. I’m sorry: I expect you’ll have to do this in 2 batches.
    Make quite a thick béchamel ( see here ). Stir in the Parmesan. I think that you should add some nutmeg too. Allow the sauce to cool before stirring in the eggs – so that the eggs don’t curdle.
    Put a layer of aubergines on to the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Pour all the meat over the top, and cover with the rest of the aubergines. Cover the whole lot with the enriched béchamel.
    Bake at gas mark 4/180°C for about 30 minutes, or until the topping has puffed up, thanks to the eggs, and turned golden.
    You can eat moussaka hot, warm, or at room temperature.
SHEPHERD’S OR COTTAGE PIE
    For 4
    Olive oil
    100g pancetta or streaky bacon, preferably unsmoked, finely chopped
    1 onion, chopped
    1 celery stick, chopped
    450g lamb mince, or beef mince, or beef and pork mince
    100ml white or red wine
    1 tbsp tomato ketchup
    1 tsp Worcester or soy sauce
    Chicken stock
    Salt
    900g maincrop potatoes (King Edward, Maris Piper or Desirée, for example)
    50g butter
    A combination of the ragu and moussaka recipe.
    As with the ragu: put a little oil (about 1 dstsp) in a heavy saucepan or casserole, and fry the bacon gently; it will release its own fat. After about 5 minutes, add the onion and celery; you probably won’t need any more oil. Allow them to soften and go golden for 10 minutes or so, stirring regularly.
    As with the moussaka: form the mince into 6 hamburger-shaped patties, and lightly coat them with oil. Put a ridged grill pan or heavy frying pan on a medium to high heat; when the pan is very hot, brown the patties, perhaps in 2 batches of 3 . They should take no more than a minute a side. Transfer to a plate.
    Pour the wine into the casserole with the softened vegetables, and simmer for a couple of minutes. Tip in the mince. Add the ketchup, Worcester or soy sauce, and enough stock (about 250ml, possibly – remember that it will reduce and thicken) to make a stew with a thick and clinging consistency. It shouldn’t resemble soup. Err on the side of caution: you can add more