Alternative, Tasty Moussaka
This Alternative, Tasty Moussaka is a Greek dish, flavor-packed with hearty spices and red wine that will delight your mouth! It can be a side dish or a main course, if you are vegan.
Moussaka is an Eastern Mediterranean casserole dish made with eggplant, potatoes, bechamel sauce and Parmesan cheese that include lamb or ground beef.
There are many variations to make Moussaka but for my vegan day, I decided to make certain changes, that weren’t compromise the particular aroma, texture and flavor of this magical Greek food.
Ingredients used for making the Alternative, Tasty Moussaka
As I previously said, I use to have a vegan day so, I decided to choose lentils to complement my protein portion. Lentils pair well on many vegan recipes and on this recipe, it wasn’t the exception. They have good source of fiber and minerals and yes, I love them!
I used dry lentils and cooked them in a pot with green onion, garlic, turmeric, slat and pepper to taste.
How to Remove the Bitterness from Eggplant
It’s important you cut the egg plant, sprinkle the sides with 2 teaspoons of salt and allow to sit for 10 minutes. This will help to soften and remove any bitterness. Rinse the egg plant and drain well.
Important: Before assembling the potatoes and eggplant to make Moussaka, You’ll need to bake or fry both ingredients with olive oil.
White Sauce for the Alternative, Tasty Moussaka
To make the white sauce, I used vegan butter, an alternative unsweetened milk, nutritional yeast (for cheesy flavor) and salt in a small pan over medium heat. But you can use regular ingredients to make a Bechamel sauce.
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Alternative, Tasty Moussaka
Ingredients
For the Base
- 1 large eggplant
- 350 gr potatoes peeled and cut into thick slices
- 1 tsp olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Lentil Mixture
- 2 ½ lentils cooked or can
- 1 onion finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 dried bay leaf
- pinch ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- pinch ground nutmeg
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 400 gr crushed tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp tomato pasta
- 150 ml red wine
- 1 tbsp Parmesan I used vegan
White Sauce
- 1 tbsp vegan butter
- 250 ml unsweetened alternative milk
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
- 2 tbsp plain flour I used gluten-free flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and lined a baking pan with parchment paper
- Sliced the eggplant and the potatoes and brush them with olive oil , salt and black pepper. Bake for about 20 minutes.
- Heat half the oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, bay leaf, cinnamon, oregano, lentils and a pinch of salt and pepper ans sauté for 2-3 minutes or until the onion is soft. Add the crushed tomato sauce and the tomato paste with the red wine. Reduce the heat to low, then cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 6 minutes.
- To make the white sauce, heat the vegan butter, alternative milk, nutritional yeast and salt in saucepan over medium heat. Whisk together, then sift in the flour 1 tsp at a time, whisking constantly until the sauce thickens to a creamy consistency.
- In a large baking pan, spoon some lentil mixture over the base, followed by a layer of potato and eggplant. Spoon over another layer of lentil mixture and spread evenly. Continue with the remaining potato and remaining lentil mixture and finish with the eggplant. Pour over the white sauce, spreading evenly over the top. Finally, sprinkle some nutmeg.
- Bake for 35 minutes, then sprinkle over the Parmesan and return to the oven for 5 more minutes.
- Serve with the salad you prefer!