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Moussaka

This is a vegan spin on the Greek national dish Moussaka. It is an eggplant-based casserole dish layered with fried or baked eggplants, a hearty tomato-based ragout and béchamel.
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Vorbereitungszeit 30 Minuten
Zubereitungszeit 1 Stunde 30 Minuten
Gesamtzeit 2 Stunden
Portionen: 3
Gericht: Main Course
Küche: Greek
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Zutaten
  

Fried Eggplant
  • 750 g eggplant
  • Salt
  • Olive oil to fry or brush
Ragout
  • 150 g dried soy mince
  • 600 ml vegetable stock
  • 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
  • 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 large white onion diced
  • 4 garlic cloves minced
  • 2 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 100 ml red wine (see notes 1)
  • 1 (400g can) peeled tomatoes
  • 3 tablespoons dried thyme
  • 1 cinnamon stick (see notes 2)
  • 2 bay leaves (see notes 3)
Béchamel
  • 4 tablespoon vegan butter
  • 4 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 600 ml plant milk
  • Salt
  • Fresh black pepper
  • Fresh Nutmeg
  • 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast optional, or vegan parmesan

Kochutensilien

  • 1 Casserole Dish

Method
 

Prepare the eggplants
  1. Cut the eggplant into 1cm thick slices (either direction, what fits best into your casserole dish) and place them on papertowel. Salt both sides and let it rest for 40mins, turning them after 20mins.
  2. If you want to fry the slices, heat a pot or pan with olive oil and fry each slice for a few minutes until golden. If you want to bake them in the oven, place them on a baking tray aligned with parchment paper, brush one side with olive oil, and bake in a pre-heated oven for 20mins at 200°C. Flip, brush with olive oil, and continue baking for 15-20mins.
Cook the ragout
  1. To a bowl, add the soy mince, smoked paprika, and pour in the vegetable stock. Mix and let the mince soak in the liquid for about 10mins, before draining and preserving the residual stock.
  2. Heat up a big pan or pot and sauté the onions in olive oil for 3-4mins on medium heat or until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2mins. Add tomato paste and stir until it has dissolved completely.
  3. Add the soy mince, cook for 3-4mins while occasionally stirring to make sure they don't burn to the pan. Deglaze with wine and cook until the alcohol has vaporized.
  4. Add the canned tomatoes and the preserved vegetable stock. Cook until the tomatoes have softened and are well incorporated.
  5. Add bay leaves, cinnamon, and dried thyme. Mix and let the ragout simmer on low heat until you need to start layering, but make sure to remove any whole spices and fresh herbs beforehand.
Béchamel
  1. Melt the vegan butter in a sauce pan on medium-low heat, before adding the flour. Mix until both are well combined and you can see a homogeneous mixture.
  2. Step by step, add the plant milk, while constantly stirring, until you have a smooth, and pourable consistency.
  3. Turn off the heat, add salt, fresh black pepper and nutmeg to taste. Optionally add the nutritional yeast.
Layer and bake
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C
  2. In a casserole dish, alternate between layering the eggplant-slices and ragout, making sure the latter is the last layer. Pour the béchamel on top and bake for 25-30mins.

Notizen

  1. To substitute the wine, add some grape juice and a little bit of balsamic vinegar
  2. You can use 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon instead
  3. Feel free to use fresh thyme. If you use a stick, make sure to remove the stem before layering
  4. Let it rest for 15-20mins, to maximize the serving experience.