The first time I had moussaka was while growing up in New York City. My family went to a small Greek restaurant in lower Manhattan, and the rest is history (I fell in love with Greek food). It's a classic made with layers of roasted eggplant, an herby cinnamon tomato-based sauce with ground meat (usually lamb), and a béchamel sauce on top.
In my quest to transform some of my favorite dishes into vegetarian versions, I've created a veggie version of Moussaka with the same great flavor and texture, and no meat, flour, grain, or dairy, other than the Parmesan cheese on top, which is optional.
There are so many ways to make this recipe. You can make it in parts ahead of time and assemble before baking. Or prepare it ahead and then bake when ready. You can also freeze it and then thaw it in the refrigerator before baking.
Moussaka is traditionally made with eggplant but if you're not a fan you can sub with zucchini strips and prepare them in the same way as the eggplant.
There are four steps to this recipe:
- Roast the eggplant.
- Simmer the moussaka sauce.
- Blend the béchamel sauce.
- Assemble and bake
Just a note about salting: I don't salt the eggplant to sweat out the moisture as most do, but feel free to do that if you prefer. I prefer to roast the eggplant for 15 minutes or so until they are tender.
If you're really into a thick layer of béchamel sauce then I'd recommend you double the recipe. I like this layer a bit on the thinner side and then I grate a small chunk of Parmesan on top. If you're not doing dairy at all, then just leave the Parmesan out and it will still taste delightful. Enjoy!
Moussaka {Veggie}
Ingredients
Eggplant
- 2 medium eggplants enough slices for at least two layers with about 8 slices covering each layer
- â…“ cup olive oil about 1 teaspoon for each eggplant slice
Moussaka Sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 large carrot trimmed and roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste or sub with thick tomato sauce
- â…“ cup raw walnuts
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup or honey
- 12 ounces cauliflower rice frozen; if fresh, or one small head trimmed and pulsed in a food processor
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ pounds tomatoes cut into quarters, plum or vine tomatoes work well
- 3 tablespoons red lentils
- ¼ cup fresh parsley leaves chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Béchamel
- 1 cup raw cashews or sunflower seeds; soaked in hot water for 10 minutes or at room temperature for a 6 hours or overnight
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup water check this
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg check this
Optional Parmesan layer
- ¼ cup grated or shredded Parmesan or other cheese; optional
Instructions
Eggplant
- Preheat your oven to 400℉.
- Prepare a baking pan with parchment paper or a non-stick mat so clean up is easy.
- Trim each eggplant top off and slice each eggplant across to get circular slices.
- Place the eggplant slices on the baking pan and use a knife to slice or score diagonal lines in the each eggplant slice.
- Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over each eggplant slice.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until they are soft and floppy.
Moussaka Sauce
- Pulse the carrot pieces in a food processor, or use a knife to chop by hand until finely chopped.
- Add the onions and garlic to the food processor and pulse until finely chopped, or chop by hand.
- Warm up a large stock pot on a low heat and add the olive oil.
- Add the onion, garlic, carrot mixture to the pot and cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the tomato paste and blend in to the mixture in the pot using a spatula or spoon.
- Pulse the walnuts in the food processor until very finely chopped, or chop by hand.
- Add the walnuts to the pot and blend in to the mixture with a spoon or spatula.
- Add the cauliflower rice to the pot and blend in to the mixture with a spoon or spatula.
- Add the salt, oregano, cinnnamon, and parsley and blend well.
- Pulse the tomatoes in the food processor until crushed, or chop by hand.
- Add the tomatoes and lentils to the pot and blend well.Â
- Place a top over the pot and simmer for 15 minutes. Add a bit of water if needed while simmering the sauce.
Béchamel
- Combine all the ingredient into a high speed blender and blend until smooth.
Assembly
- Preheat your oven to 350℉.
- Lightly grease an 8 inch by 12 inch (or 11 or 12 inch round) baking pan or oven-proof skillet.
- Divide the eggplant pieces into two groups and place the first layer on the bottom of the pan.
- Add the sauce on top of the first layer of eggplant.
- Add the second layer of eggplant slices on top of the sauce.
- Spread the béchamel sauce on top of it. Optionally, lightly sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese over the béchamel.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Store in the refrigerator for a few days or freeze for a few months.
Janny Lai says
Thanks Erica for this delicious moussaka recipe. I used sunflower seeds for the béchamel sauce. I only used a mortar and pestle, so everything was less creamy but it added to the texture, which was a pleasant surprise.
Hi Janny, great to hear! And interesting about the texture.