Pasta Moussaka

Make the meat sauce: Grease a 9″-x-13″ baking dish with cooking spray or butter and set aside. In a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add ground beef and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 3 to 5 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium-low. Add garlic and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute more. Add cinnamon, paprika, oregano, and bay leaf and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add tomatoes with their juices, 1 teaspoon salt, and sugar and stir to combine. Add eggplant and wine, stir well, and cover partially. Return to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until eggplant is tender and excess liquid has evaporated, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta for half the time on the package directions. Drain. Add cooked pasta to meat sauce, stirring to fully coat noodles. Position a rack in the top third of the oven and preheat to 375º.

Make the béchamel: In a small saucepan over low heat, warm milk.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter, sprinkle in flour, and whisk until smooth. Cook until it slightly darkens and smells nutty, 2 to 3 minutes.

Very slowly pour warmed milk into butter mixture, continuously whisking until it is smooth and thickened to a custard-like consistency, about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan and nutmeg. Season with salt. Let cool slightly, then whisk in egg yolks.

Assemble the pasta: Transfer pasta mixture to prepared baking dish and spread into an even layer. Using a rubber spatula, spread béchamel evenly over pasta, all the way to the edges. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan on top.

Grease underside of foil with cooking spray and cover dish loosely. Bake for 20 minutes.

Increase heat to 400º, remove foil, and bake 15 to 20 minutes more, or until evenly browned.