Vegetable Moussaka Recipe by Lauren from Mrs Hippo & Me

Hi everyone!

My name is Lauren and I blog over at MrsHippo&Me. I am super excited to have been given the chance to guest post on the lovely Alex's blog.

I mainly blog about mumsy stuff and have recently begun blogging about our baby friendly family meals. These are meals for the whole family to enjoy but good for your little one to eat too, the meals can be mashed or blitzed but I serve and show them as they are.

This post I'm going to be sharing our vegetable moussaka recipe with you. Its a little time consuming but you'll be happy with yourself once you've served it up. I like to add as much colour to a dish as possible and this moussaka gives you the perfect opportunity to play around. Now, be warned. Its not a pretty dish, even the professional versions don't look that great and I'm far from professional!! But it definitely tastes a lot nicer than it looks... I promise.

My recipe is enough for three people, if you're cooking for more only add to the vegetables. Try not to add more liquid as you'll find the end result will be a little watery. 

What you'll need:

• 1 courgette
• 1 aubergine
• 1 large carrot
• 1 pepper (I used an orange pepper)
• 3 cloves of garlic (crushed or chopped)
• 1 can of chopped tomatoes
• 1 can of kidney beans
• 1 pot of vegetable stock (usually around 500ml water)
• 2 large potatoes (sliced)
• 1 large onion
• Salt and pepper

For the cheese sauce, my recipe is from Channel 4 but you'll need:

• 50g butter
• 50g plain white flour
• 600ml milk
• 150g cheese

The method...

Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees. 

Prepare you meal by chopping up all your veg (see my tips on chopping an onion for dry eyes at the bottom of this post).

Add your onions to a large, deep pan along with a splashing of oil, keeping the temperature on a low to medium heat. Once golden brown, add your carrot, pepper, courgette, kidney beans, tomato then cover your vegetables with the stock. Add your crushed garlic and a sprinkle of pepper and salt to taste.  Bring everything to the boil then reduce to a simmer for around 30 minutes.

Now for the aubergines. They can be quite bitter, so for a sweet fruit we need to draw all that bitterness out! Slice them up, pop on a plate and sprinkle with salt. Not too much, just enough to cover every one and leave them for at least 10 minutes.

Now you need to start your cheese sauce. In a separate pan, add your butter until melted. Take off the heat, add the flour and mix until a dough has formed. Return to the heat and stir for around 4 minutes. Take back off the heat and gradually add the milk, stirring all the while. Eventually your mixture will turn in to a nice creamy sauce. Add your cheese and mix well until the cheese has melted. Leave it on there for a while, stirring often until its thick enough to use. Keep on a low heat otherwise it will become stringy or curdle

Back to your aubergines. Pop all your fruit in to a colander and rinse with cold water. Once done, pop them on to a sheet or two of kitchen towel and dab away any excess water or salt. In a pre-heated, oiled frying or griddle pan, lay your aubergines (keeping pan on a low heat) and turn once slightly golden. When each side is lightly cooked, dab again with the kitchen towel to remove and excess oil.

In an oven proof dish (such a lasagne, or casserole dish), start layering your mousakka. You will want a layer of potato, vegetable moussaka sauce, aubergines then the cheese sauce. Continue to layer until you have used up all your ingredients.

Sprinkle the top with cheese and pop in to the oven at 180 degrees for around 30-40 minutes.

Quick tip for chopping an onion

Chop off one end, peel, cut down the middle stopping before you reach the bottom. Turn then slice across, again, stopping before you reach the bottom. Turn on its side and chop.

No watery eyes and super quick!!

I hope you've enjoyed reading my recipe post (and hopefully the food once you've made it!).

Lauren xx ♥ MrsHippo&Me ♥ www.mrshippoandme.co.uk

* A HUGE thank you to the lovely Lauren for this amazing recipe. I can't wait to try it myself! Check out her blog for more about her and her beautiful daughter as well as some other of her yummy looking recipes!