Vegan moussaka
Greek food is one of my favourite cuisines. Ive been lucky enough to spend a lot of time in Crete and became so inspired by the slow lifestyle and simple yet delicious home cooking. Back when I was still eating lots of fish and cheese I would devour the fresh seafood bought to the beautiful shores of Loutro, a southern Cretan fishing village on the Libyan coast. It’s such an amazing feeling to be eating fresh produce grown or caught not more than 10 miles away and eating tomatoes that actually taste like tomatoes!
One of my favourite greek dishes is vegetarian moussaka ( although the vegetarian part is probably not very greek)! I was definitely sceptical that this dish could be recreated without dairy but nutritional yeast impressed me yet again. I don’t feel it’s missing anything and I actually prefer the taste of this plant based vegan moussaka. It is not only delicious but is also full of vitamins and minerals, plant protein and immune boosting ingredients such as the B12 found in the nutritional yeast.
I really hope you enjoy this dish and it inspires you to get creative with supplementing dairy for plant based ingredients in your favourite classic dishes!
Ingredients
2 aubergines
2 tins of tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 red onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp capers
1 tin black beans or black/green lentils
1 tin of coconut milk
6 tbsp nutritional yeast
4 tbsp chickpea flour
1 tbsp cumin seeds
salt and pepper to taste
serve with basil leaves and fresh bread.
servings: 4
Method
First make your vegan cheese sauce. Put your pan on a medium heat and add your coconut milk, nutritional yeast and chickpea flour. Whisk this until you reach a smooth, even consistency. Take this off the heat and set aside.
Chop your onion and put in a non stick pan on a low heat and cover. Grate or chop your garlic and once the onion becomes translucent add this to the pan. Cook for a few minutes making sure nothing sticks or burns.
Add your tomatoes, puree and lentils/beans. Stir, cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.
Now slice your aubergine thinly and set aside.
Heat your fan oven to 200 degrees . Now it’s time to start layering your moussaka. Take a large oven proof dish and place some aubergine slices covering the bottom. Then add your tomato sauce and keep repeating this process until you have filled your dish to 3/4 making sure to end on the aubergine layers which will be a base for you cheese sauce. Now top with your cheese sauce making sure to cover the aubergines evenly. Season and sprinkle your cumin seeds. Cook in the oven for 35 mins or until your top begins to brown. Serve with a small handful of basil and fresh bread. Enjoy!
Serve with fresh basil and warm bread.