58. Moussaka

Kefalograviera cheese can be difficult to find in Australia. However, it’s often in the supermarket marketed as “saganaki”, which is a bit of a misnomer. Saganaki is kefalograviera cheese, pan fried, often topped with a little lemon juice plus or minus a drizzle of honey. The point is, this is the cheese you want. Otherwise, the best substitute would be a mild pecorino, but even parmesan would be fine. Try to go for a dry white wine.

Great

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Start by cutting off the sides of the capsicums to make capsicum steaks, coating in a little oil. Place on aluminium foil, in the oven under the grill until the skin is blackened, then remove from the oven and cover the capsicum with the sides of the foil. After 10 minutes of sweating, the skins should peel easily off. Finely chop the capsicums.

Step 2

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Coat the slices of potato and eggplant in oil and bake in one layer. The eggplant will take about 10-15 minutes, and the potato 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven to cool.

Step 3

Make the sauce by heating oil and softening the onion and garlic. Then add the plant based mince, browning it a little, and add the spices. Add the wine and allow this to cook off. Then add the tomatoes, breaking them up in the pan, and get the last of the tomato juice out of the cans by filling them up each 3/4 full and adding this water to the pan (i.e. add one and a half cans of water). Add the zucchini, carrot and lentils, oregano, and sage, and cook until the lentils are cooked (about 30 minutes). Strip the lemon thyme leaves and add them too. Season to taste.

Step 4

Make the bechamel by studding the onion with the cloves and bayleaf, and heating up the milk in a small pot with the onion in the milk. In a separate pan, melt the butter and add the flour once melted, cooking the flour for a few minutes as it forms a loose paste with the butter. Then add the milk, in stages, whisking until smooth each time. It should be nice and thick. Season to taste.

Step 5

Assemble the moussaka by layering potato in a large oven tray (approx 25cm x 35cm), then half of the sauce, then another layer of potato (mixed with some eggplant if you don’t quite have enough, but don’t worry if you can’t completely cover the middle layer), then the remaining sauce, then the eggplant layer, then the bechamel. Top with kefalograviera. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 45 minutes, or until golden on top.