Thursday, August 30, 2007

Moussaka

Moussaka is one of the many dishes I like. Apparently it's made in many Mediterranean countries, each with a slight variation. I've always related to it as Greek. However, despite the variations, the main ingredients remain the same- a vegetable, usually aubergine, minced lamb (or beef) and a custard-like topping which can be a Bechamel sauce, sour cream or plain yogurt flavoured with cheese, and egg beaten into the mixture to give the characteristic texture. It's also a dish which makes aubergines tastier.

Before ovenI made one the other night for dinner which had no minced meat in it, it was a"Vegetable Moussaka". It tasted great, the combination of herbs, vegetables, lentils and white sauce was just delish!

Now it's cooked!
Here is the recipe:

Vegetable Moussaka

3 medium aubergines/eggplants, cut into 5mm slices
2 Tbsp olive oil, extra
1 red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 carrot, diced
400g canned diced tomatoes
400g canned lentils, drained
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried tarragon
2 Tbsp breadcrumbs

Cheese Sauce:
2 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp plain flour
2 cups milk
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
2 egg yolks

1. Cook aubergine slices in a large frypan until lightly browned. Meanwhile, heat extra olive oil in a saucepan, add onion, garlic, celery and carrot.
2. Cook stirring for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, lentils, tomato paste and dried herbs. Cook for a further 10 minutes.
3. For white sauce, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and stir to combine. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Gradually add milk, stirring continuously, until sauce is thick and smooth. Add cheese and stir until melted through.
4. Remove from heat and add egg yolks. Line a greased 23cmx15cm baking dish with 1/3 of the aubergines, top with half the vegetables, then half the remaining aubergines, followed by vegetables, then remaining aubergines. Top with white sauce and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Bake in oven at 180C for 40 minutes. Serves 8.For those who might be curious about the book "Ottoline and the Yellow Cat", here are some of the illustrated pages which I was raving about. It has a sense of humour as well. Click on pictures to view larger if you want to have a read. Or simply go to www.panmacmillan.com/chrisriddell for more.

Make sure you have a great weekend, my dear friends and here are some blushing pinkiest flowers to lift your spirit.




7 comments:

Gail McCormack said...

Oh Rosi
Yum yum, thanks so much for a bit of insipiration in the cooking section, I feel so stale with my food ideas lately, I loved your recipes and will try a few during the week
Gail

Betty said...

Oh! You have a beautiful blog. I'm glad I dropped by.

Jeanette Nord said...

Yum! Moussaka is my favourite! And I must try to get hold of some of Chris Riddels books. Blobheads go boing sounds hilarious! Don`t know if they have them in Sweden though! You have a lovely blog. So glad I found you. Will defenitely come back!

Hugs
Jeanette

Unknown said...

A beautiful post as always! My eyes can't "drink" enough of your pretty pinks in. What a gorgeous layout of goodies. I thought you did a wonderful post last time.One of my favourite lines in a song is..."How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure, that he should give his only Son, to make a wretch his treasure." If that is not a reason for great joy, I don't know what is! We are surely blessed!

Mandi said...

thanks for the flowers....love it all ...

Country Cottage Chic said...

Your moussaka looks delicious! I've really enjoyed your blog - especially the lovely photos.

Unknown said...

Hi again.Thanks for the great comment you left. I did do the little sketch and the soldered charms. They contain little watercolours. I thought of doing the little watercolours in the charms as I wanted to do something unique. I haven't seen anyone else on the web that has done it...not yet at least.
I came up with the idea for the window shelves from a combination of having a small house, having far too many books and loving the ones you see in magazines where the whole wall has been converted to bookshelves.I certainly can store a lot of books up there and it doesn't take up any valuable floor space. John and I have such a lot of interests and consequently, have gathered up quite a collection of nonfiction books on a wide variety of subjects. The sort of books that once you have them it would be silly to part with them.
Hope you have a happy, flower-filled week,
Angela.