All Veggie Moussaka
I basically had all the ingredients except for the pork mince for a moussaka and I had such a hankering that I thought why not just make an all veggie one with lentils instead of the pork. As I had tinned lentils at home it made the whole thing a lot faster too and I didn't miss the meat. It was delicious and I'll definitely be making it again. You will need:
- Two medium potatoes
- Two courgettes
- One large aubergine
- One onion
- One tin of lentils
- 50g butter
- 50g plain flour
- 500ml whole milk
- Ground cinnamon
- Dried oregano
- Dried mint
- Seasoning
- Olive oil
- Tomato purée
Start but slicing your aubergine and courgettes into rounds. Salt them and leave to one side for about 10 minutes. When they've had their time heat a large frying pan with a little olive oil. Drizzle the courgettes and aubergine with olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, a tsp dried mint and a pinch of dried oregano and salt to taste and fry on each side so they're nicely charred. When they're all done leave to one side. Peel the potatoes and boil them so they don't fall apart but so they are at least 90% cooked. Leave them to cool and then slice in rounds and dust with some ground cinnamon. In another sauce pan soften a finely sliced onion and then add your rinsed tinned lentils with a tablespoons of tomato purée. Cook out the purée and a little water so it makes a sauce. Add a teaspoon of dried mint, half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and a pinch of oregano and salt to taste. Leave to one side. In another pan melt the butter and plain flour to make a roux. Add 500ml of heated whole milk slowly to the roux until it is fully absorbed and is a thick pourable béchamel. Add half a teaspoon ground cinnamon to the béchamel and set aside. Pre heat the oven to 220 and layer up your moussaka. Place the lentils on the bottom of your tin, then the potatoes, then the courgettes, then the aubergine, then pour over the béchamel and grate the halloumi so the top is covered and put into the oven. When it's golden brown and bubbling around the edges it's done. Leave it to cool slightly to make it easier to portion up and serve. If possible save some got the next day. It ends up even more delicious.[video src="placeholder://" data-wp_upload_id="x-coredata://1E7F3A98-CEA1-475A-B28B-9CCF6F255314/Media/p769" ]