Moussaka is something Mark & I love to eat, and I think I make a pretty good one. Since we've been together I've only made it once - because that time, it was too heavy and I managed to burn myself taking it out of the oven and drop the whole dish upside down on the oven door. It was covered with foil so salvageable, but needless to say it was just a pile of mush!
Multi-coloured Semi-Primal Moussaka
Ingredients
2 Capsicums (any colour)
2 Carrots
2 Zucchinis
3-4 Yellow Squashes
1 medium-large Sweet Potato
1 medium Onion
1 clove Garlic (finely minced)
Approx 700-800g Beef or Lamb Mince
3 rashers Free Range Bacon
2 tsp Coconut Oil (Or other oil you prefer - Coconut is the best for cooking but Olive Oil is ok if that is your preference)
140g Tomato Paste (Organic if you can)
400g Tinned Tomatoes (Organic if you can)
500g Cottage Cheese
1/4 cup Mozzarella or other shredded cheese
500g Cottage Cheese
1/4 cup Mozzarella or other shredded cheese
Tabasco Sauce to taste (Optional)
Chilli Powder (Optional)
Chilli Powder (Optional)
Basil & Oregano to taste (Or you can use any herbs you like)
Salt & Pepper
Salt & Pepper
Method
1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced oven).
2. Chop the bacon into chunks and roughly dice the onion. Heat 1 tsp Coconut Oil over high heat & fry off the bacon & onion till browned.
3. Add the mince & cook for about 1 minute. Add herbs, tomato paste, tomatoes & Tabasco sauce. Allow to cook on high heat for a couple of minutes then turn down to low heat.
4. Grate carrot and add to sauce. Allow sauce to cook for 20 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally. Season to taste, add chilli powder if desired.
5. Meanwhile, slice the eggplant & sweet potato into 1/4 inch thick slices. Thinly slice zucchini and yellow squash. Cut capsicums into 6ths and then trim edges to make pieces nice and flat.
1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced oven).
2. Chop the bacon into chunks and roughly dice the onion. Heat 1 tsp Coconut Oil over high heat & fry off the bacon & onion till browned.
3. Add the mince & cook for about 1 minute. Add herbs, tomato paste, tomatoes & Tabasco sauce. Allow to cook on high heat for a couple of minutes then turn down to low heat.
4. Grate carrot and add to sauce. Allow sauce to cook for 20 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally. Season to taste, add chilli powder if desired.
5. Meanwhile, slice the eggplant & sweet potato into 1/4 inch thick slices. Thinly slice zucchini and yellow squash. Cut capsicums into 6ths and then trim edges to make pieces nice and flat.
6. Lay eggplant out on flat plate and cover generously with sea salt. This will draw the water out and the eggplant will be yummier when you grill it! Leave to stand in the salt for at least 15 minutes, then rinse off and pat dry with a paper towel.7. Grill all the vegetables until cooked. Start the capsicum skin side up and grill till the skin browns and blisters.
8. Once all vegetables are grilled, grease a 2.8L baking dish (any smaller will be too small and you will have to make 2 batches) with the remaining coconut oil.
9. Now the layering begins - I began with sweet potato on the bottom but you can really do whatever you like! Next I put on a layer of 1/2 the cottage cheese, followed by 1/2 the meat sauce. Then grilled eggplant, all of the zucchini/squash/capsicum, then the remaining cottage cheese, followed by the rest of the meat sauce. I had a few bits of eggplant left, so I arranged them in a pretty pattern on the top and topped with the grated mozzarella.
I love all the different coloured veggies in this dish. It's definitely one for a cold day - very warming and comforting without the load of a heavy lasagna full of non-Primal nasties! It's great served with a salad, or you can just gorge it on it's own - it's full of vegetables anyway!
Recipe makes 8 serves.
Nutrition Per Serve:
Nutrition Per Serve:
- 371 calories
- 16.4 g Carb
- 40.4g Protein
- 14.7g Fat
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