My son—who is now 27—brought home this Greek moussaka recipe with potatoes (a classic Greek entree) when he had a sixth-grade assignment about Greece. It earned high marks when we made it for his class.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried mint, optional
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups whole milk
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink, 7-9 minutes, breaking into crumbles. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Drain. Stir in water, tomato paste, parsley, salt, mint if desired, cinnamon and pepper.
2. For sauce, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth; gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat. Stir a small amount of hot mixture into eggs; return all to the pan, stirring constantly. Add cheese and salt.
3. Place half of the potato slices in a greased shallow 3-qt. baking dish. Top with half the cheese sauce and all of the meat mixture. Arrange remaining potatoes over meat mixture; top with remaining cheese sauce.
4. Bake, uncovered, until a thermometer reads 160°, about 1 hour. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.