Tom’s Vegetarian Moussaka
This vegetarian moussaka is full of flavour and sustenance. Fresh, flavoursome produce is center stage in this recipe that make use of every ounce of an ingredient. If you prefer meat, add 200 grams of sautéed ground lamb to the recipe instead of the lentils.
Serves [4]
Ingredients
1 char-grilled aubergine
1 onion, thinly sliced
glug of light olive oil
1⁄2 teaspoon cumin seeds
100 grams lentils
400g chopped tomatoes (this is great for when you have a glut)
200 grams spinach or chard, stalks finely chopped, leaves roughly chopped
150 grams ricotta
150 millilitres of yogurt
pinch grated nutmeg
Method
Preheat the oven to 190C.
In a large pan, fry the onion slowly in the light olive oil with the cumin. Meanwhile, simmer the lentils 15 to 25 minutes until tender, then drain.
Add the tomatoes to the onion, bring to a boil and add the lentils, then the spinach or chard. As soon as the leaves wilt, remove from the heat.
In a bowl, mix the ricotta and yogurt and season with salt and pepper.
In an oven-proof dish, layer half the lentil mixture, half the eggplant, then half the yogurt mixture, adding a grating of nutmeg. Then repeat the layers, finishing with the yogurt mixture and another grating of nutmeg.
Bake in the oven 25 minutes, until hot right through.
Moussaka keeps well in the refrigerator for 4 days. In fact it’s better the day after cooking, as the flavours merge and it sets a little more firmly. Cover and reheat in an oven preheated to 180 celsius until hot right through. Char-grilled eggplants will keep 4 days in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Return to room temperature before serving.
Recipe provided by Tom Hunt.
