lentil moussaka

Hearty lentils, roasted eggplant, spinach and a creamy custard topping make this lentil moussaka utterly delicious! This veggie moussaka recipe is perfect for Sunday supper, a special occasion meal or when entertaining friends and family.

Lentil Moussaka Recipe

eggplants

avocado oil (approximately)

salt (divided)

black pepper (divided)

baby spinach

nutmeg

green lentils

olive oil

yellow onion

garlic (minced)

baby bella (cremini) mushrooms (minced (about 227 grams))

tomato paste

cinnamon

oregano

salt

black pepper

red pepper flakes

clove

tomatoes

salt vegetable broth

bay leaves

unsalted butter

all-purpose flour

milk

egg yolks (yolks only)

Cooking spray (to grease baking dish)

sweet potato, yellow potato, or Russet potato (thinly sliced)

panko bread crumbs

crumbled feta cheese

oregano leaves

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line two sheet pans with aluminum foil or parchment paper and spread slices of eggplant over top. Brush with avocado oil and sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping the eggplant rounds halfway. Once done, carefully remove, and set aside.Note: While the eggplant is roasting, you can start preparing some of the other moussaka components (like the spinach, lentils and sauce).

Roasted Eggplant

Place spinach, nutmeg and a tiny splash of water (about 1 to 2 tablespoons) in a  12-inch heavy-bottomed sauté (or deep) pan (one that comes with a lid) over medium heat (you can use the same pan later to make the sauce). Cover and cook on the stovetop until just wilted (stir occasionally; this should only take a few minutes). Place the spinach in a fine mesh sieve to squeeze out excess moisture. To do this, I like to press the spinach against the sieve with a spoon, allowing the excess water to flow out. Chop the spinach.Note: You&#39;re not pressing the spinach through the sieve, just using it to get rid of that extra water.Note: If you&#39;d rather, you can use a clean tea towel instead of a fine mesh sieve to remove excess moisture from the spinach. To do this, after cooking the spinach, allow it to cool a bit until it&#39;s cool enough to handle, place it in a clean tea towel and squeeze out the excess moisture.

Spinach Layer

Cook lentils in a separate pot on the stovetop according to package instructions. Note: For this recipe, 1 cup of lentils was used and 3 cups of water. Pick over lentils and discard any foreign objects, like rocks, and imperfect lentils. Rinse and drain. Add lentils to a saucepan with water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat (to about medium-low heat) to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 to 30 minutes until tender. Don&#39;t overcook. Rinse and drain. Set aside.Note: While the lentils are cooking, prepare the sauce.

For making the sauce, you can use the same pan you cooked the spinach in. Wipe out pan of any excess moisture. Heat olive oil in the pan over medium heat on the stovetop. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, until onion has softened, about 5 minutes.

Stir in mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, cinnamon, oregano, salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, nutmeg and clove. Cook for 1 minute.

Pour in tomatoes and vegetable broth and add bay leaves. Stir. Bring to boil, reduce the heat (to about medium-low heat) to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes (stir occasionally).

Remove bay leaves and discard.

Once the lentils are cooked, add them to the sauce. You&#39;re looking for a consistency similar to a meat sauce. Set aside.

Lentil Sauce

Melt butter in a saucepan on the stovetop over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour to form a paste and cook for about 3 minutes.

Slowly (about 1/2 cup at a time), whisk in warmed milk. Once milk is added, cook for a few minutes, whisking, until thickened before adding more milk. Continue doing this until all the milk has been used. This could take about 10 to 15 minutes.

Once milk has been used and sauce is thick, stir in black pepper, salt and nutmeg. Turn off heat and let cool for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring every so often to allow it to cool down (as to not scramble the eggs once added to a hot liquid).

Very slowly whisk in egg and egg yolks until it&#39;s combined and smooth. Set aside.

Custard

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Spray a 9-inch x 13-inch deep baking or casserole dish with cooking spray or grease with cooking oil.

Layer potato slices on bottom of dish. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt, black pepper and bread crumbs.

Layer half of the eggplant on top. Next layer half of the spinach. Then, half of the lentil sauce, spreading out to have an even layer filling the dish. Repeat, starting with eggplant.

Pour custard over top (if some seeps down the sides of the casserole, that&#039;s okay). Sprinkle with feta cheese.

Place dish on a baking sheet (to catch any spills) and bake for 65 to 70 minutes.

Carefully remove from the oven and allow to cool for 20 to 30 minutes before serving (don&#039;t skip this step).

Garnish to taste (if desired) with fresh oregano. Serve and enjoy! Recipe serves 6 to 8.

Assemble and Bake Moussaka

Vegan moussaka with lentils and eggplant! This popular Greek dish can be easily made without meat and still tastes amazing. This healthy casserole is a wonderful comfort meal which is flavorful, satisfying, and very enjoyable. The recipe is plant-based, gluten-free, and fairly easy to make.

Vegan Moussaka

potatoes (peeled)

Olive oil (to brush)

Sea salt & pepper (to sprinkle)

lentils ((about 1 1/2 cups dried))

passata

onion

garlic

thyme

paprika

tsp coconut sugar (or brown sugar)

Sea salt & pepper (to taste)

butter

plant-based milk

cornstarch

yeast

Vegan cheese (to taste (optional))

Check the video in the post for visual instructions.First, preheat the oven to 390 °F/200 °C and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Then, slice each eggplant into 4-5 lengthwise slices and the potatoes into ½-inch (1 cm) thick slices.

Once sliced, arrange the slices in a single layer across the baking sheets, lightly brush them with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake them for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Prepare the Eggplant and Potatoes

Meanwhile, peel and chop the onion and mince the garlic while heating a little oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Once hot, sauté the onion and garlic for 4-5 minutes, until translucent.

Then add the tomato puree, chopped tomatoes, and all the spices (including salt and pepper to taste). Stir, add the lentils, and let it simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes.

Prepare the Lentil Moussaka Filling

Add the plant-based milk to a small saucepan/skillet with the cornstarch, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper, and whisk well.

Then, add the dairy-free butter and bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Immediately lower to a simmer and stir/whisk constantly until it thickens. Remove it from the heat and set aside.

Prepare the Vegan Bechamel Sauce (see recipe notes)

Grease a 9x13-inch (23x33cm) baking dish with vegan butter or oil and arrange half the potato and eggplant slices across the bottom of the dish.

Top that with the lentil mixture, followed by the remaining eggplant and potato slices.

Pour the bechamel sauce over the top and spread it evenly. Then, optionally, sprinkle some vegan cheese over the top.

Transfer the potato eggplant moussaka to the oven to bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown on top with tender eggplant/potato and a bubbling filling. Finally, optionally garnish with herbs, and enjoy!

Assemble and bake the Vegan Moussaka

Just made this for the first time and it’s a winner.. Yaya would be impressed..It’s hearty and rich and filling and a comfort food crowd pleaser.. my only divergence was subbing soy cooking cream for plant milk. That bechamel was DIVINE.

really delicious recipe! Everything just comes together in a creamy tasty way! And it doesn’t take that long to make! Everyone in my family loved it! I will definitely make it again!

Five-star yummy! 
I followed the recipe exactly, and it was great! I prepare and cook food quite slowly, so as other people noted, if you also cook at a leisurely place, it might take more time than you expect.

For next time, I would make a two changes:
1. It might be sensible to make the béchamel sauce first, as you need to give that 100% of your attention. Then you can put it aside and concentrate on the baking and sautéing, and make sure everything else goes in the oven nice and hot. I also added lots of cheese and that made it even creamier.
2. I would double the aubergine, so. you can really taste them.

Thank you for this recipe! It's gone on the list of recipes for a happy Sunday in the kitchen.

So yummy! Mine turned out with more sauce than your photo but then my cooking never looks pretty! 
It was delicious anyway; I did add some mushrooms snd panko breadcrumbs and some vegan cheese to the top. Very filling. 
My bechamel didn’t thicken as much but I did go off course following your instructions. 
I made it all except the bechamel the day before, assembled and then put the casserole dish in the fridge and finished it the next day. Got my 87 year old mum out of the nursing home and served it to her for lunch…..she had a 2nd helping!

Wow!!
Made this on a slow, easy going Sunday and so so happy I did. It’s totally delicious and the balance of flavours along with the roasted potatoes and aubergines are amazing 🤩 
Being greedy I did make extra potatoes and aubergines and it didn’t hurt a bit. 
Make it, savour it and you’ll plan to make it again ❤️

Danke für das tolle easy-peasy-Rezept! Als Vegetarierin und Zöli hab ich schon ewig keine Moussaka mehr gegessen. Fand sie auch kalt sehr lecker :-). Auch der omnivore Gatte und der vegane Sohn haben ein positives Feedback gegeben.

Ist auch super, um es in größeren Mengen zuzubereiten und dann aufzubewahren. Schmeckt erneut aufgewärmt noch einmal aromatischer!

Übrigens danke für so viele tolle Rezepte, liebe Ela! Als ich mit Zöliakie diagnostiziert wurde dachte ich lange, dass ein vegetarischer oder sogar veganer Speiseplan jetzt auf lange Sicht nicht mehr funktioniert, weil so viele Lebensmittel wegfallen. Vor allem die Brot- und Kuchenbackerei, die Mehlspeisenküche, etc. Unter anderem durch Deine Rezepte habe ich festgestellt, dass es doch viele Möglichkeiten für eine glutenfreie und vegane Zubereitung gibt und dass ich einfach nicht aufgebe, Alternativen auszuprobieren.

This recipe was incredible! Each layer was delicious! The ingredients were easy to get. The only thing I found was the recipe took forever to make and the instructions were confusing in some parts but I think to make it again would take half the time and be more clear. I would definitely recommend and make this recipe again!

Yum yum yum!! Making moussaka takes a lot of work but your recipe was worth it. Next time I will need to buy an extra eggplant to completely cover the top. I added seasonings to the bechamel because it tasted too much like soy milk. So delicious!! Thank you!!

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/NYxGgMHa.mp4

Vegan Moussaka With Lentils

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