Recipe: Clare Scrine’s Big, Hearty Moussaka for Winter Nights

The first time I made moussaka I was about 12 years old, and I distinctly remember misreading 1 teaspoon of cinnamon as 1 tablespoon and ending up with a very strange, cinnamon-y meal that turned me off this dish for a long time. But it’s so bloody delicious!

Here’s a vegetarian version of the traditionally lamb-based Greek signature made using a beautifully flavoursome fake-meat ragout. It’s a bit of work, but this delicious bake will feed the masses and makes incredible leftovers. It’s a nice recipe to add to your group meals repertoire if you’ve already nailed lasagne. Adjust the filling as you like, adding in any extra veggies you might have on hand that need using up.

Vegetarian moussaka

Serves 8 or more

Ingredients

3 large eggplants (aubergines), cut lengthways into 2–3mm thick slices
3 large potatoes, cut lengthways into 1–2mm thick slices
60ml (¼ cup) olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
Salt and pepper
3 celery stalks, finely diced
1 large onion, finely diced
1 large carrot, finely diced
20g dried mushrooms (porcini are ideal, but shiitake or another dried mushroom will be fine)
500ml (2 cups) boiling water
5 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbsp currants
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
120g (1½ cups) TVP mince (or 300 g fresh plant-based mince, or 2x 400 g tins drained lentils)
750g (3 cups) tomato passata (puréed tomatoes)
250ml (1 cup) vegetable stock

White sauce
60g salted butter
75g (½ cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
625ml (2½ cups) milk
Pinch of nutmeg (ideally freshly grated)
Salt and pepper

To assemble
200g dried lasagne sheets
70g (⅔ cup) grated cheese (cheddar or a mixture of whatever you have on hand)
60g (1 cup) panko breadcrumbs
Small handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves, to serve (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C fan-forced. Line two large baking trays with baking paper.

Arrange the eggplant and potato slices across both trays (don’t worry if a few are overlapping), drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the oven and cook for 25–35 minutes, turning the veggies over halfway through cooking. Sometimes I cook the vegetables in my sandwich press instead, which works equally well and delays heating up the kitchen so much.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add the celery, onion and carrot and cook, stirring often, for 15–20 minutes, until reduced and golden.

While the veggies cook, rehydrate the dried mushrooms in the boiling water in a small bowl. Cover and set aside for 10 minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the water and chop them finely, reserving the soaking liquid. Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook for another couple of minutes, then add the garlic, currants and spices. Mix well and cook for 2 minutes or until fragrant, then stir in the TVP mince, followed by the passata, vegetable stock and reserved mushroom soaking liquid, along with a little salt and pepper. Stir well, then reduce the heat to low and cook for at least 20 minutes, or up to an hour, adding a little more water if it reduces too much, until the mixture is thick and luscious.

As the filling cooks, prepare the white sauce by melting the butter in a saucepan over medium heat until bubbling. Add the flour and whisk well for a couple of minutes to form a thick paste. Slowly pour in the milk as you continue to whisk, then add the nutmeg and some salt and pepper and keep whisking for about 2 minutes until the sauce thickens. Remove from the heat, check the seasoning and adjust as needed, then set aside.

To assemble the moussaka, spread a tablespoon of the mushroom “mince” sauce in the base of a 30cm × 20cm baking dish. Add a layer of lasagne sheets, then spoon over a generous layer of mince (reserving at least half). Add half the eggplant slices, then half the roasted potato slices. Drizzle over one-third of the white sauce. Top with another layer of lasagne sheets and repeat the layering, finishing with a final layer of white sauce. Scatter over the cheese and breadcrumbs, then transfer to the oven and bake for 30–40 minutes at 180°C, until the top is browning and the lasagne sheets are just tender when stabbed with a fork.

Allow the dish to stand for 15 minutes before serving so it’s easier to cut. Scatter with parsley leaves (if using) and dig in.

Store the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3–4 days.

Images and text extracted from The Shared Kitchen by Clare Scrine, published by Smith Street Books in 2022 ($45.00). Photography by Yaseera Moosa.