Vegetarian Moussaka, and the Importance of High-Quality Cheese

(#10) Master 25 New Recipes

1. Stuffed Peppers
2. Risotto
3. Polenta
4. Beef Brisket
5. French Onion Soup
6. Chocolate Chip Cookies
7. Lentil Soup
8. Macaroni & Cheese
9. Zucchini Bread
10. Chicken Piccata
11. Moussaka

Moussaka as I understand it is a rather loose term referring to a layered dish made with some combination of eggplant, potatoes, spinach, and meat. It is popular mainly in Mediterranean cooking, This recipe (which I found from this blog via Pinterest, and modified slightly) is a very simple, vegetarian version made with spinach, potato, and feta cheese.

Though it takes awhile to cook, the recipe itself is very easy. Probably the hardest part is thawing and draining the spinach, during which time you will feel as if your kitchen sink has become a swamp of greenish liquid and scary dark plant tendrils.

Ronnie was a little skeptical because there is an egg and cream sauce that holds it together (not his favorite), but he enjoyed it. It would have been much improved by a higher-quality feta cheese, though. The one we had was too mild of a flavor, and the dish wound up crying out for that acidic bite that a good-quality feta has.  If I had a lemon on hand that would have saved it as well.

Full recipe below, but basically the dish is

A layer of potato:

Topped with spinach and feta:

Followed by a second layer of potato and the cream and egg mixture.

Vegetarian Moussaka

(Note: Requires advance prep of thawing/draining your spinach, and cook time is 1 hour 20 minutes. I'd save this one for the weekend!) 

Ingredients:

3 large potatoes, peeled, sliced 1/8-inch thick, and patted dry
3 boxes frozen spinach, thawed, drained,and squeezed dry with a paper towel
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
3 eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 375 and grease a baking dish with butter.
2. After drying out the potato slices, layer half of your slices at the bottom of the baking dish. Overlap them slightly to fill the pan. (Note: Make sure you are almost ready to bake before laying out your potatoes, or they will start to brown. You can store the slices in water for a short time if you are waiting for the spinach to thaw, as I was.)
3.  Spread the thawed and dry spinach over the potatoes. Add the crumbled feta.
4. Top with the rest of the potato slices.
5. Whisk together your eggs, heavy cream, and salt and pepper in a separate bowl, and pour over the moussaka. The cream should just barely cover the top layer.
6. Cover with foil and bake 40 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
7. Remove foil and bake additional 35-40 minutes until top is golden. Let set for 5-10 minutes before serving.