This Greek comfort dish is essentially a fancy potato eggplant lasagna. It’s a cinnamon infused labor of love, and honestly it is completely worth it. When I think of Greece, I’m usually dreaming of feta cheese while lounging seaside, but this dish has opened up my vision of Greek food. It’s everything that a European comfort dish should be.
I will admit that I starred at my screen for a solid 30 minutes before deciding to post this recipe. I get caught in this tangled web, the notion of making something perfect. However, just in time I heard the echo of saying I have grown fond of. “Don’t polish the doorknob so much that you forget to walk through the door.” To put it in the most simple of ways, the more you create things… the less pressure you put on yourself. The more you create things, the better they will become. So without further ado, I give you a vegan moussaka.
First Layer: Fried Potatoes
Peel and slice Yukon gold potato about 1 centimeter thick. Fry in cooking oil over medium heat until gold, about 2-3 minutes on each side. Allow the potatoes to drain on paper towel. Season with salt and pepper.
Second Layer: Fried Eggplant
Slice eggplant about 1 centimeter thick. Fry in cooking oil over medium heat until gold, about 2-3 minutes on each side. Allow the eggplant to drain on paper towel. Season with salt and pepper.
Third Layer: Mushroom Sauce
Sauté diced onions until translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Then add minced garlic cook until aromatic, about 1 minute. Add finely chopped portobello mushrooms and cook additional 6-8 minutes or until all the liquid has evaporated. Mushrooms hold a lot of water, so as you cook them you will see liquid in the pan, but that will eventually reduce. Add tomato paste, cinnamon, all spice, thyme, salt, and black pepper. Once combined completely then add tomato sauce and bay leaves. Simmer your mushroom sauce while you work on the bechamel sauce.
Tip: Use food processor to chop mushrooms. In small batches pulse (tap) on the chop setting 8-10 times.
Fourth Layer: Béchamel Sauce
If you have dove into French cuisine for even 5 minutes, you are sure to hear of the “Five Mother Sauces”. The traditional French staple sauces. Béchamel is a white roux with milk. In this vegan version, I add in one of my all time favorite ingredients nutritional yeast. The nutritional yeast adds a nutty/cheesy hint that compliments the moussaka.
Prepare roux by melting butter in a pan over low heat. Add sifted flour and aggressively stir with wooden spoon until no clumps. Remove from heat before adding in milk, this will prevent clumps from forming. Slowly add warm plant milk, aggressively stir until smooth. Add nutmeg, salt, black pepper, turmeric, and flax meal. Taste for salt and pepper.
