Vegan Moussaka

Tom here,

This is a recipe from one of the rare times that I manage to persuade my housemates to cook vegan for an evening, and is actually gluten free as well, but sadly Jess wasn't there to appreciate it.

My family have a very obscure relative that none of us have ever met who has an apartment in Bulgaria, and for the last few summers they've been kind enough to let us go out there and use it. It's in the little seaside town of Ravda. Lots of amazing fresh fish and beaches and sun, I'd probably struggle to eat as a vegan now but at the time it was great. One of our favourite dishes was the moussaka at the nearest restaurant called cremi (spelled cvemi of you're ever in the area - near the luki apartments on the sea front, very nice and even better they have good service!)

Anyway hunger induced ramblings aside - here's my attempt at recreating this dish. I didn't use any lentils or meat substitute but these could be easily added and (green particularly I think) would make a nice addition.

Ingredients:

3 Aubergines
2 Courgettes
1 Pepper
1 1/2 cans Chopped Tomatoes
1 medium Red Onion
2 cloves Garlic
1 small glass Red Wine
1 tbsp fresh Thyme
1 tbsp Tomato Paste
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 pack of Clearspring Firm Silken Tofu
120g Pine Nuts
1 clove Garlic
1 tbsp Arrowroot (or cornflour)
More Salt and Pepper

Method:

First off cut the aubergines into slices a centimetre thick, rub with salt and the place in a colander with a weight on top
Leave theme for a couple of hours (This is to remove the bitterness from the aubergines)
Halve the pepper and grill or bake until soft
Next slice the courgettes lengthways onto strips and place on a grill tray
Rub the aubergines slices with garlic and then coat thinly with flour
Place the aubergines next to the courgettes on a grill tray
Grill on either side until browned, then heat your oven to 180 degrees celsius
Now for the sauce, chop the red onion into slices and fry in a little oil until soft
Crush the garlic and add, and fry for another minute or so
Add the tomato paste, wine and thyme and reduce for a minute or two
Add the chopped tomatoes
Chop up the pepper finely and add
Stir through, season and simmer for 15-20 minutes
For the topping, toast and crush the pine nuts using a pestle and mortar
Blend the tofu, garlic, seasoning, flour and pine nuts together with a hand blender
Once everything is ready, start to assemble the moussaka in a baking tray
Place a layer of aubergines, then courgettes, then cover with the tomato sauce
Repeat until you run out of ingredients or you are an inch from the top of the tray
Cover with the tofu mixture
Bake until the tofu is set and golden around the edges, around 30-40 minutes
Serve and enjoy! We made some wedges and salad to go with it

Hope you enjoy the recipe, let us know any comments at twocooksoneblog@gmail.com

Baked Aubergine

Tom today,

I have been feeling rather uninspired lately, hence a lack of blogging. This recipe isn't really a reversal of that, it's not exactly an inspiring recipe, but a simple, healthy and low calorie one that you can make quickly after work without much brain function left (as I am now). I'm making these with some oven roasted new potatoes as well.

This makes two portions (with a bit of stuffing left over)

Ingredients:

1 Aubergine
1/4 Courgette
3 small Mushrooms
1/2 Red Pepper
Handful of Sugarsnap Peas
1/4 cup shredded Red Cabbage
1/2 an Onion
3 large cloves of Garlic
1 and 1/2 Cans Tomatoes
3 tbsp Red Lentils
1 tsp Bouillon
1 tsp Mixed Herbs, Thyme, Rosemary, Paprika
Salt and Papper to taste
6 small New Potatoes (approx 300g)
2 tsp Olive Oil
Pinch Sea Salt Flakes

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius.
Chop up and par-boil the new potatoes for 5 mins or so.
Halve the aubgergine.
Scoop out an inch of the aubergine flesh to make a well, save the flesh to use in the sauce.
Place upside down on a baking tray, toss the new potatoes in 1 tsp of oil, sprinkle salt on top and place next to the new potatoes.
Place in the oven to roast for 20 minutes while you make the stuffing.
Chop everything up (including the aubergine flesh).
Fry all the vegetables (everything except for the tomatoes, bouillon, lentils and herbs) in a deep frying pan until browned.
Add all the leftover stuff plus 200ml of boiling water.
Simmer and reduce until the sauce is thick.
Take out the aubergines and give the potatoes a quick shake around.
Flip the aubergine over and fill with the sauce, place back in the oven for cook for another ten to fifteen minutes.
Wash-up, tidy, wipe down and generally do everything that you need too.
When the potatoes are browned and the stuffed aubergine is crispy round the edges, plate up with a small portion of salad.
Serve and enjoy!

I like my stuffed aubergine to be more like a sauce, but that's just personal preference so feel free to reduce the amount of tomatoes (and water) as you like. This works with literally any vegetables, these are just ones I generally have in the fridge.

This is also very easily adapted to suit your tastes, and works with a wide variety of vegetables (I often do this with butternut squash as well!)

As always, we love to hear your comments and ideas, email them to us at twocooksoneblog@gmail.com

Soon to come: Pad Thai!

For the Baked Aubergine (calculated using www.myfitnesspal.com):


                      Calories   Carbs     Fat     Protein     Sodium     Sugar
          Total:     105          16        3           4            377           8

The potatoes add another 225 calories, plus say 12 for a small salad giving a very nice total of 341 calories for this quite filling meal!