Thursday 17 May 2007

Moussaka - Vegetarian Eggplant and Cheese Recipe



MOUSSAKA
(Vegetarian Eggplant & Cheese)


Ingredients:

4 eggplant, - stems removed
2 tsp Salt
1/4 cup oil
4 Cloves garlic, - chopped fine
1/2 cup Tomato sauce
170g Tomato paste
1.5 cups Water
2 Eggs, beaten
225g Mozzarella cheese, grated

Method:

1. Cut each eggplant lengthwise into 3 equal slices. Sprinkle with the salt and let stand for 20
minutes, dry the slices on paper towels to absorb the liquid that accumulates. Set aside.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a pan and stir-fry the garlic over moderate heat until golden,
about 2 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, and water and mix well. Simmer the sauce over low heat until it becomes thickened, about 15 minutes.

3. Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil in askillet. Dip the eggplant slices into the beaten eggs and fry over moderate heat for 2 minutes. Fry all the eggplant slices this way.

4. Put a layer of eggplant in a heatproof casserole dish. Cover with about 1/2 cup of the cooked tomato sauce. Sprinkle with about 2 tablespoons of the grated cheese. Cover this another layer of eggplant, then sauce, then cheese. The last layer (there should be three) ends with the cheese. Bake in a preheated 180C/350F oven for 30mins.

Serve warm. Serves 6 with spaghetti or other dishes.


.... Just another day ....

3 comments:

projgen said...

Sounds positively delicious! But it sounds more like eggplant parmesan (er, minus the parmegan?) than moussaka ;)

We learned the salting trick for eggplant the hard way. The eggplant was hard, bitter and awful the first time Hubby made an eggplant dish! Ick.

frumhouse said...

I make this dish without the cheese. I layer lightly breaded and fried egplant with tomato mushroom sauce and then bake it for about 30-35 minutes in 350 degree oven. Yummy! However, for Shavuous, I might try your method.

RaggedyMom said...

Yum! I've got eggplant parmesan on my Shavuos cooking list - RaggedyDad asked for the classic - but this looks like a terrific variation!