Veggie Moussaka - Eggplant and Potatoe Casserole

I'm going to try this one tonight. Of course, I'm going to have to change it a little more.
So the recipe ended up being vegetarian and wheat free too. Good for me and the child.

This crazy diet I'm on. but hey, it's forcing me to cook! So that's a good thing! BTW, I'm editing this the next day after I made it and it turned out fabulous. As a note to self, make sure you have about 3-4 hours set aside to make this dish. All the preparation adds up in time. I started about mid afternoon.

very versatile dish, has many different methods of making it. good wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moussaka

Baked Eggplant with Ground Meat (of your choice)
(Moussaka)

* 2 large eggplants - 1/4 inch slices
* salt
* 3 potatoes
* olive oil
* 2 large onions, chopped
* 1 pound ground veggie meat, ground lamb or ground beef
* 6 tablespoons butter; melted, divided - if using real meat, substitute non dairy margarine
* 1/2 cup parsley, chopped
* 1 cup spaghetti sauce
* 1/3 cup nut flour
* 2 cups soy milk
* 2 eggs, separated
* 1/4 cup veggie cheese
* dash nutmeg, ground

Slice eggplant and sprinkle with salt; set aside for 15 to 20 minutes. Pare and slice potatoes; dry eggplant slices. Brown eggplant and potato slices in olive oil. Drain on paper towels and set aside.

Sauté onion and ground meat in 2 tablespoons melted butter until brown; add parsley and spaghetti sauce and simmer for 10 minutes. The sauce shouldn't be too watery.

Put some of the sauce at the bottom of a greased 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Place a layer of potatoes, eggplant, and meat mixture in pan; repeat layers, ending with eggplant.

Add butter to the pan; cook over low heat, stirring constantly. Heat milk; gradually add the flour (using more of less the recipe calls for as needed), stirring constantly (a whisk would be good for this). Cook over low heat until thick (adding the flour gradually will gradually thicken the milk mixture); cool slightly.

Beat egg yolks, and combine with cheese and nutmeg; add a little white sauce to the eggs, and then add that mixture back to the white sauce. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into sauce. Pour sauce over eggplant-meat layers. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 55 minutes or until golden brown.
Serves 12.

to do beforehand, set all this aside for when you're ready to assemble the moussaka:

spaghetti sauce
this can be changed according to taste
5-6 chopped tomatoes
tomatoe paste
garlic
onion
bay leaf
rosemary
basil
red or white wine (just a little for flavor)
water as needed

simmer all this together until a sauce

to save some time:

slice and salt the eggplant, let sit for 30 minutes, pat dry
brush with oil on both sides and put in a 400 degree oven until light brown

salt and brush oil over the potato slices, put in 400 degree oven until light brown

other suggestions:
replace potato with squash
use ground mushrooms instead of ground meat
use other vegetables in the layers


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