Vegetarian Moussaka

Ingredients Casserole:

1 eggplant, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large zucchini, thinly sliced
2 potatoes, thinly sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 (14.5 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped
1 (14.5 ounce) can lentils, divided, drained, juice reserved
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
Olive oil or other vegetable oil for roasting
cinnamon

Ingredients Béchamel sauce:

1 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups milk
black pepper to taste
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 pinch cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1) Sprinkle eggplant slices with salt and set aside for 30 minutes. Rinse and pat dry.

2) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

3a) (work intensive version) Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly brown eggplant and zucchini slices on both sides; remove and set aside on plate. Adding more oil if necessary, brown potato slices; remove from heat.

3b) (easy version) Place sliced eggplant, zucchini and potatoes a large roasting pan, toss with oil and roast at 450 degrees F for 30-50 minutes (until browned and tender).

4) Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until lightly browned. Pour in vinegar and reduce. Mash or food-process half the lentils until creamy. Stir in tomatoes, whole and mashed lentils, 1/2 the juice from lentils, oregano, parsley, a pinch of cinnamon and salt and pepper to taste. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 15 minutes.

5) In a 9x13 inch greased casserole dish layer eggplant-zucchini-potato mixture with feta and tomato-onion mixture. Repeat layering, finishing with a layer of eggplant and zucchini.

6) Cover and bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes.

7) Meanwhile, in a small saucepan combine butter, flour and milk. Bring to a slow boil, whisking constantly until thick and smooth. Season with pepper and add nutmeg and cinnamon. Remove from heat, cool for 5 minutes, and stir in the beaten egg.

8) Pour sauce over vegetables and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, for another 25 to 30 minutes.

Caveats:

Let me start by saying that I will be making this again, it came out really, really well and the blend of flavors was, in my opinion, outstanding. However, while my parents enjoyed it they are not used to cinnamon and nutmeg being the primary spices in a savory dish, a fact driven home when I was asked where the flavor was coming from as they couldn't place it and then subsequently told that it would have been "perfect in a tomato based sauce." That said, I might not make Moussaka of any variety for a group of people with a narrow culinary experience, however, for those with a fairly broad spice palette this dish is delectable and would be very well received.

Additionally, for the recipe itself I used the second method of roasting the veggies as opposed to pan sautéing each batch which was both easy and tasty. I could not find canned lentils at Publix so I used non-soak dry lentils cooked in vegetable broth and a combination of the reserved tomato juice combined with cooked lentil broth where called for in the recipe. I do recommend mashing/food processing half the lentils as it causes the tomato mixture to bind together a bit more resulting in nice upright slices when the casserole is sliced and served. I also used more lentils than the recipe calls for in the tomato mix - probably closer to 21 oz. than 14.5oz. Finally, I substituted white pepper for black in the béchamel sauce although I'm sure either would work just fine.

-recipe modified from Allrecipes.com