So, how was dish dish created? Well, I got plenty of veggies that needed to be used as soon as possible... I could repeat the extraordinary twelve-veggies stew, but I wanted to try something new, so I let my instant inspiration guide me.
And what can I say about the flavor (just a few words before you try it)? It's succulent, flavorsome, hearty, and it kinda looks fancy. Tons of veggies covered with rich cheesy layer - how can that be bad?! However, I would make a change in layer order of the ingredients to avoid over drying the top layer, as this was the only "point" to the cons list. I'll explain those changes later in the Directions section.
So, let's see what you'll need to make 6 servings:
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- Prepare the vegetables: finely chop onion; slice the carrot; peel and dice the eggplant; peel and cut tomatoes and potatoes into (approx.) 5mm thin slices.
- Now, heat oil into a pan and add onions and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, until soft and tender. Then, add carrots, and after a couple of minutes stir in eggplant. Season with some salt and pepper to taste. Cook until eggplant becomes soft and tender (approx. 5 min).
- Add peas and rice, stir and remove from fire. Add parsley and some more salt and pepper if necessary. This is the "filling" for the moussaka.
4. Cover the bottom of a baking dish with one layer of potato slices (using half of them), letting the slices overlap a bit. Sprinkle with salt, and some pepper if you wish. The pan I used is 25x25cm, so choose some of similar size.
5. Spread the vegetables filling, and then cover it with the rest of the potatoes, arranging them as shown on the photo below. |
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- This is where I would make a change in the preparation. As you can see on the photos below, I put one layer of potatoes, half of the filling, then again one layer of potatoes and the rest of the filling. But by the time the dish was ready, the rice from the second layer was a bit dry and hardened, which is not good, of course. So, I would warmly recommend that you use all the filling at once, sandwiched between potatoes as described at the beginning of step 5.
6. Now, arrange tomato slices on the top of potatoes. Sprinkle with some salt.
7. Pour some water into the pan, just enough to fill half of it. Bake into a preheated oven at 200°C until potatoes and rice are done.
Enjoy and bon appétit!