Cooking Without Whine: Vegetarian Moussaka

Today, Trevor teaches us how to create a vegetarian style Moussaka, a classic Greek dish with eggplant.

Welcome back to Cooking Without Whine, our series of teaching videos, helping you prepare fresh and healthy meals at home. If you don't already know– our institutional sized kitchen on the MHAB Life Skills Campus is a space for life skills education, experimental cooking, and of course, a lot of fun. In the MHAB Kitchen, we prepare fresh baked goods, soups, sandwiches, and salads daily. Community dinners and private luncheons are regularly prepared here as well. Our head chef, Trevor, leads the way in providing fresh meals to the community and making sure our MHAB Fresh shop is always stocked with delicious, healthy eats.

This is our third episode of Cooking Without Whine, and in this video Trevor teaches us how to make the perfect Moussaka in our MHAB Life Skills Campus kitchen. Watch the video to see how Trevor does it, and follow the recipe to make your own at home!

This recipe comes in three parts, for the each layer of the Moussaka – Eggplant, Filling, and Bechamel Sauce. After preparing each "layer," the Moussaka can be assembled and baked. First, here's what you'll need:

For the Eggplant:

• 2 Eggplant

• ¼ - ⅓ Cup Salt

• 2 Cups Flour to dredge

• 2 Eggs to dip

• 1- 1 ½ Cups Panko

• 1- 1 ½ Cups Grated Parmesan

• Olive Oil

For the Sauce:

• ¼ lb Butter

• 5 Tablespoons Flour

• 2 Cups -Whole Milk

• 1 Tablespoon Tomato Paste

• 1 teaspoon Ground Rosemary

• 1 teaspoon Oregano

• 1 teaspoon Paprika

• ½ teaspoon Salt

• ½ teaspoon Pepper

For the Filling:

• 2 Medium Onions, chopped

• 2 Cloves Garlic, minced

• 2 Medium Potatoes

• 12 oz Feta, crumbled

And to top, you'll need:

• 2-3 Cups Mozzarella, shredded

Once you have all of your ingredients together, we can start preparing each layer. First, the eggplant:

Preparing the Eggplant

1. Peel and cut EGGPLANT into ⅜" rounds

2. Salt liberally and place in baking racks on sheet pans

3. Allow to sweat for ¾ - 1 hour

4. Rinse in running water and pat dry

5. Dredge in Flour

6. Dip in Egg Wash

7. Dredge in Panko crumbs and Parmesan, mixed in equal parts

8. Place on lightly oiled sheet pan and bake for 30 to 40 min at 350 F

Preparing the Bechamel Sauce

1. Melt the butter on medium low heat

2. Add flour and cook until a smooth paste

3. Add milk and cook until thickened

4. Add your spices and tomato paste to taste

Preparing the Filling

1. Microwave potatoes until almost cooked (4 to 5 minutes)

2. Dice the onion and cube the potatoes to a consistent size

3. Sauteé onions and potatoes until browned

4. Add garlic and let cook

After preparing the ingredients for each "layers" of the Moussaka, you're ready to assemble and bake the dish. Here's what you'll do:

Moussaka Assembly

1. Combine onions, potatoes, garlic and feta

2. Place cooked eggplant rounds singly on sheet pan

3. Cover each eggplant round with the vegetable mixture

4. Top each eggplant round with feta cheese

5. Spoon the sauce on top of each eggplant round

6. Cap with a second eggplant round

7. Cover with mozzarella

8. Bake at 350 F until cheese is bubbly

And that's all! We hope you can enjoy Trevor's Moussaka at home as you try out this recipe.