Healthiest Moussaka
Prep Time: 20 Mins
Cook Time: 60 Mins
Total Time: 80 Mins
Serves: 4-6
There are so many great variations of moussaka, each country has their own spin. The Greek version is topped with a creamy bechamel sauce. The Bulgarians and Turkish skip the creamy sauce and place the emphasis on the eggplant. I prefer this style as it makes what would otherwise be a very rich meal, super healthy and equal parts meat and veggies. I like to serve moussaka with a green salad and a side of rice or rustic bread to soak up the juices.
Ingredients
Tomato Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
1 796 ml can of diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons ground coriander
1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
Ground Beef
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 onions, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
600g lean ground beef
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
Few twists of ground black pepper
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 medium eggplants, cut into 1cm thick pieces
¼ cup olive oil, for brushing
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Make the tomato sauce. Warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened, about 7-10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, coriander, salt, and ½ cup of water and cook until the sauce has thickened, 15-20 minutes. This makes about 4 cups of sauce that can keep in the fridge for a week or freezer for 3 months. In this recipe, we will only use half.
Make the ground beef. Warm 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion and carrot and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened. Add the beef, cinnamon, salt, and pepper, stirring often and breaking apart the beef with your spatula into smaller clumps, cook for another 10 minutes or until it is browned. Remove from heat and mix in the parsley.
Preheat the oven to 400F. On a lined baking sheet, brush each side of the eggplant with olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Bake until the eggplant softens, about 7-10 minutes.
Lower the oven temperature to 350F. Brush a 9x12 baking dish (or something similar sized) with oil and layer half the slices of eggplant on the bottom of the dish. Top with the ground beef mixture, using the spoon to evenly disperse it. Add 1 ½ cups of tomato sauce, reserving the rest for another purpose. Top with additional eggplant slices. Bake for about 30 minutes. Let the moussaka rest at room temperature for 10-20 minutes before serving.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Michael Solomonov’s Moussaka
