Lentil Moussaka
Serves: 4
Time: 70 minutes
There is nothing moussaka at all about this dish as it has evolved so much since I first made it, but I still seem to hold onto the name…
Leftovers
This dish is great for leftovers. If you wanted, you could portion it down and freeze in individual containers.
What you'll need
1 small brown onion
4 cloves garlic
4 sprigs oregano
1 400g tin of brown lentils
1 400g tin of crushed tomatoes
2 large sweet potatoes
1 large eggplant
1 small bag of baby spinach
1 large cauliflower
25g butter
1 cup grated Parmesan
1/3 bunch of chopped fresh coriander
From the pantry
olive oil
salt and pepper
1/4 of red cooking wine - optional
Prep and Cook
Preheat oven to 180c
Roast Sweet Potato
Peel sweet potato and slice into rounds, roughly the thickness of a pencil.
Toss with oil, salt and pepper. Lay them out in your baking dish. (I like to overlap the pieces a bit as they tend to shrink, so don’t worry if it might appear a bit cramped). Roast for 20 minutes or until soft.
Remove from the oven once cooked.
Cook Eggplant
Slice your eggplant nice and thin (about the thickness of a pencil). Toss in oil and salt and pepper. Lay out on an oven tray lined with paper and bake for 15 minutes until soft.
Sauté Onions
Cut onion into a small dice (brunoise) and finely chop garlic.
Remove any large stalks from your oregano then finely chop.
In a medium-sized pot add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and bring up to a high heat, add onion garlic and oregano and sauté for around 2 minutes so that the onion has gone past translucent and is beginning to caramelize.
Add Wine
If you have, add a good splash (roughly 1/4 cup) of wine to the pot and stir till it has reduced by at least half.
Add the tinned tomatoes, then swill out your can with 1/4 can of water to make sure you get everything and add this to the rest of the mix.
Turn down to simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Cook Cauliflower
Cut cauliflower into large florets and put into a pot. Cover entirely with water, add a pinch of salt and place on the stove. Bring up to a boil then continue cooking till soft right through.
Once the cauliflower is cooked drain off the water. Using a stick blender or food processor, blitz with the butter until smooth.
Season with salt.
Meanwhile…
Stir Sauce
Once your sauce has cooked down you can add your lentils, stirring occasionally for another 5 minutes.
Season well.
Fold in the baby spinach, remove from heat.
Bake
Using your baking dish that has the sweet potato in it top with your lentil mix.
Lay your eggplant across the lentils creating a thin layer.
Top with the smooth cauliflower mix.
Finish with a sprinkling of grated Parmesan.
Bake for approx. 20 minutes (this only needs long enough to get the cheese melted).
Sprinkle with fresh chopper coriander.
Enjoy!
Lunch tomorrow
This dish is pretty good for leftovers. You might even be able to freeze some if you don’t eat seconds.