Moussaka (vegetarian & meat versions)

This is one of my favourite recipes, which is not to say that I make it often. It is an amended version of an earlier moussaka recipe from which I removed the more ludicrously time-consuming elements, but this version still takes over an hour to prepare plus around an hour to cook. Although it is pretty labour intensive (as layered dishes tend to be) it produces a wonderful meal of rich, intense flavours - even the component parts taste great. I would recommend it for Sunday lunches or special occasions.

Moussaka is a layered Greek dish, traditionally made by alternating thin layers of potatoes, minced beef, tomato sauce, zucchini, eggplant and cheese sauce. This recipe uses an onion-but mixture as a vegetarian substitute for the beef and red peppers as a substitute for the zucchini (originally because my ex boyfriend dislikes zucchini, but now because I like the sweetness and chunkiness of the red pepper). The tomato sauce and onion-but mix can be made a few hours in advance. This produces 2 medium casserole dishes of moussaka, so you could consider doing one meat & one vege if feeding a hoard of mixed tastes.

Vegetables:
2 large cooking potatoes (c. 500g)
1 medium eggplant
3-4 red peppers (or 2 large zucchini if you're being traditional)

For the tomato sauce:
500g fresh tomatoes
2-3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup olive oil
1 bunch or 50g fresh or frozen parsley

For the onion-nut mix:
400g onions
1/2 cup walnut pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp dried herbes de Provence
salt & pepper
large pinch of cinnamon
(you can substitute 500g of minced beef for the onion-nut mix)

For the cheese sauce:
3 tbsps butter
1/2 cup wholewheat flour
2 cups organic milk
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
ground nutmeg
2 eggs
fresh lemon juice

- Start by dicing the tomatoes fairly small, finely chopping the parsley and crushing the garlic. Then heat 1/3 cup olive oil on moderately hot ring before adding the tomatoes, parsely and garlic to it. Keep the pan simmering until the tomatoes cook down to a soft mushy texture (about 20 minutes) and then add salt and pepper if desired. Set aside.

- Peel the onions and chop them finely.Chop the walnuts very finely. Heat 2 tbsps of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat, add the onions and the herbs. Saute on medium to low heat, stirring often, until the onions are soft but not browned (abut 15 minutes). Add the nuts and saute briefly, then season with salt, pepper and cinnamon. Set aside.
If you are carnivorous in approach, ignore the onion-nut directions and saute your minced beef until cooked.

- Slice the eggplant in half in cross section. Then slice lenthwise (each slice should be about 1cm thick). Toss the slices in a bowl with a little olive oil so that each is very lightly oiled, and then broil (we say grill in English) all of the eggplant under medium-high heat until soft and perhaps lightly browned (a few minutes each side). Set aside.

- Consider having a drink to mark the fact that you are more than halfway through.

- Slice the red peppers into 6ths or 8ths lengthwise (depending on size) and grill them until soft and lightly browned on both sides. Set aside.

- Melt 2 tbsps butter in a pan on low heat & whisk in the flour. Add the milk very gradually and stir continuously (you might want to heat the milk first). Simmer it over low eat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally; you want to achieve a fairly thick consistent sauce without lumps. Stir in the parmesan and then season to taste with salt, pepper, nutmeg and lemon juice.
Beat the eggs in a small bowl and then whisk into the milk mixture. Set aside.

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Wash and dry the potatoes and slice them very thinly.

- Take a large baking dish, or 2 normal sized casserole dishes. Fill with fairly thin layers of potatoes, onion-nut mix (or beef), tomato sauce, red pepper, eggplant and cheese sauce. Spoon some cheese sauce over each layer, but put more on top of the eggplant layer. I usually get 2 of each layer per dish.

- Bake the moussaka(s) in the oven for 40 minutes to 1 hour, until the potatoes are soft and the top is browned. Allow to cool slightly and then serve.

This feeds about 6. It is good when accompanied with green salad and would also get along well with red wine.