I have a simple Mushroom Moussaka recipe for you all. About a week ago, I mentioned to Carol G, one of my facebook fans, that I had a wonderful recipe to post, but in our talks back and forth on the fanpage I told her I had a problem and was unable to post. So what was the problem? My memory card for my camera got corrupted and I lost all 196 shots I took for the recipe. Yeah, I really photograph a lot when doing a recipe :0). But, thanks to my skills, I eventually was able to retrieve them. I really thought all was lost and had to do the recipe all over again. Anyhow, after that little episode, I finally got everything in order and here is the mushroom moussaka recipe.
The Origins of Moussaka
Moussaka has it's origins from Greece and is basically a casserole type dish made with eggplant (baigan), potatoes, tomatoes and any other vegetables you like, all topped with cheese and baked to delicious goodness. Some variations also include meat as well, so it is really a versatile dish.
The Marvelous Mushroom Moussaka
How Moussaka came to Trinidad still beats me, but when my wife first made Moussaka I was so intrigued with it that it was in heavy rotation afterward. The “Wow Factor” (thanks to Darrell Sheets lol!!) for me in this dish was the eggplant (baigan). We all know eggplant is not much of a flavour packed fruit with it's bland taste that we usually have to add some taste to by roasting, currying, or stewing. But, when baked in Moussaka it adds a different dimension of taste to the dish.
So here then is my second Moussaka recipe. This time the main attraction is mushrooms. Have fun.
Mushroom Moussaka Recipe
MUSHROOM MOUSSAKA
Ingredients:
1 eggplant
1 large or 3 medium potatoes
2 tbsp. butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
4 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp. flour
1 cup evaporated milk
1 egg lightly beaten
1 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 leaves chadon beni, finely chopped
Direction:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Brush baking tray with oil.
Arrange potato and eggplant in a single layer and season with herbs of choice.
Bake for 20 minutes or until soft.
Note: You can add your own signature to the dish by using your favourite seasonings. Here we added a dash of salt and some paprika.
Allow potatoes and eggplant to cool before use.
Cut up tomatoes, garlic, onion, mushrooms and grate the cheese. Set aside
Melt butter and cook onion and chadon beni for 4 minutes or until soft.
Add garlic, cook for 1 minute.
Put heat on high and add mushrooms. Stir.
Add tomato, reduce heat and simmer for about 8 minutes.
Now to make the cheese sauce. Melt butter in sauce pan over a low heat. Add flour and cook for 1 minute.
Gradually stir in milk, allow to boil and thicken.
Stir often then add the Parmesan cheese.
Remove from heat when bubbles subside stir in egg.
BREAK IN TRANSMISSION
Cooking can such hard work sometimes you need to take a break.
So, while you're resting your feet have some sugar cane lol!! 🙂
RESUME TRANSMISSION
Reduce oven to 350 degrees. Grease shallow dish 1.5 L ( 11″ x 7″ x 1 1/2″).
Add half of the mushroom mixture into dish.
Cover with the potato, the other half of the mushrooms and then the eggplant.
Note: Here is where I believe you can vary your layers a bit. You could have started with the potatoes first then the mushrooms etc…… Or you could add extra grated cheese between each of the layers as well….. As I always say experiment, experiment, experiment ! 🙂
Pour on the cheese sauce and smooth the top.
Bake for 30 -35 min or until edges bubble. Rest for 10 minutes and serve.
Mushroom Moussaka
Ingredients
- 1 eggplant
- 1 large or 3 medium potatoes
- 2 tbsp. butter
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 cup mushrooms sliced
- 4 medium tomatoes chopped
- 1 tbsp. flour
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 1 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3 leaves chadon beni finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Brush baking tray with oil.
- Arrange potato and eggplant in a single layer and season with herbs of choice. Bake for 20 minutes or until soft. (Note: You can add your own signature to the dish by using your favourite seasonings. Here we added a dash of salt and some paprika.)
- Cut up tomatoes, garlic, onion, mushrooms and grate the cheese. Set aside. Allow potatoes and eggplant to cool. Melt butter and cook onion and chadon beni for 4 minutes or until soft. Add garlic, cook for 1 minute. Put heat on high and add mushrooms. Stir. Add tomato, reduce heat and simmer for about 8 minutes.
- Now to make the cheese sauce. Melt butter in sauce pan over a low heat. Add flour and cook for 1 minute . Gradually stir in milk, allow to boil and thicken. Stir often then add the Parmesan cheese. Remove from heat when bubbles subside stir in egg.
- Reduce oven to 350 degrees. Grease shallow dish 1.5 L ( 11″ x 7″ x 1 1/2″). Add half of the mushroom mixture into dish. Cover with the potato, the other half of the mushrooms and then the eggplant. Pour on the cheese sauce and smooth the top. Bake for 30 -35 min or until edges bubble. Rest for 10 minutes and serve.
How was it? Did you realize that the dish is vegetarian? Not one bit. A professed “meat mouth” like me don't even miss meat when I'm having Moussaka. Maybe it's the cheese lol!!
More recipes to come. Continue liking my recipes, tweeting them and leaving your comments. If you feel inspired why not drop us a line or become a facebook fan.
See you soon.
Ah gone!
can u omit the egg in this recipe??? for vegeterian purposes… 😀
I believe you can without hurting the recipe too much lol!! But, there’s another moussaka recipe on the site that doesn’t use egg here’s the link….http://simplytrinicooking.com/mousaka/
You can try both and tell me what you think.