Moussaka Parmesan
Moussaka, a traditional Greek dish, is a layered casserole consisting of sauteed eggplant, ground lamb-tomato sauce, and a white bechamel sauce. The lamb-tomato sauce is usually cooked with onions and garlic, and seasoned with oregano and cinnamon. The dish is baked until the top is golden brown. On the other hand, eggplant Parmesan is an Italian dish made with layers of breaded and fried eggplant, tomato sauce, and mozzarella cheese. Although both dishes are delicious, they are rather heavy. I recently came across a recipe for Moussaka that used feta cheese instead of the typical bechamel sauce. About the same time, I saw a recipe for roasted eggplant Parmesan. Using techniques from each recipe, I made a very light dish that I call Moussaka Parmesan. >>
When cooked, eggplant has a tendency to become very soggy. To remedy this, I “purged” the eggplant before roasting. After peeling and slicing the eggplant, I laid it out on a cooling rack over a baking sheet, sprinkled it with salt, and let it set for 30 minutes. I then rinsed the eggplant and squeezed it dry in paper towels. It may sound odd, but it works. To cook the eggplant, I lined a baking sheet with foil, lightly oiled the foil, and then placed the eggplant slices in a single layer. After roasting in a 450 degree oven for about 10 minutes, the eggplant turned a light golden brown. I let the eggplant cool while I started the lamb tomato sauce.
My grocery store doesn’t sell ground lamb, so I bought a lamb leg steak, cubed it, and then pulsed it a couple times in my food processor. I browned the ground lamb in a large skillet before adding onions, garlic, lemon slices (yes, the whole lemon), oregano, and parsley. After the onion was soft, I seasoned the mixture with salt and pepper, added a cinnamon stick, tomato pasta, and crushed tomatoes. I let the lamb tomato sauce simmer about 5 minutes before deciding it needed more cinnamon flavor, so I removed the cinnamon stick and added about 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. I also removed the lemon slices before layering the sauce into my baking dish.
To assemble the moussaka Parmesan, I placed a layer of roasted eggplant in the bottom of a 9×13 greased baking dish, topped it with half of the lamb tomato sauce, and then with half of the feta cheese and a third of the Parmesan cheese. After repeating the layers, I ended with a layer of eggplant and topped that with the remaining Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. I made breadcrumbs from some whole wheat bread I made last week. I baked the moussaka Parmesan in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes total, loosely covering it with foil for the last 15 minutes to keep it from getting too brown. Once it was cooked, I let it rest for 15 minutes before serving it.
I really enjoyed the lightness of the dish. Roasting the eggplant gave it a nice texture and a delicious flavor. Although the lamb tomato sauce was good, it wasn’t great and I don’t think the feta cheese worked in the dish. Same goes for the bread crumbs – the Parmesan would have been better on it’s own. Next time, I think I will just go with the Roasted Eggplant Parmesan, using a traditional Italian meat sauce and mozzarella cheese.
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