An incredible dish to make when you have guests over or during the weekend. Each serving is only 204 calories, has 19 grams of protein, and costs $1.6 to make.
Moussaka
A healthy variant of the traditional Greek eggplant casserole. It is usually made with a potato layer but in my recipe, I use Greek yogurt mixed with egg.
Ingredients
Eggplant layer
- 450 g Eggplant 450 g
- 3 g Olive oil
Filling
- 226 g Ground Beef 93%
- 60 g Onion – Gram
- 1 clove Garlic
- 200 g Crushed Tomatoes No Salt Added
- 24 g Tomato Paste
- 30 g/ml Cooking Wine 2 tbls
Spice Mix
- 2 g Sugar
- 0.5 tsp Black pepper
- 0.5 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 3 g Salt
- 0.25 tsp nutmeg and cinnamon (optional)
Topping
- 170 g 2% Greek Yogurt Whole milk also works
- 1 large Egg
- 4 g Parsley
Instructions
Eggplant layer
- Slice the eggplant lengthwise, place the slices out in one layer. Sprinkle over with salt. Let rest for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 450 F
- Pat the eggplant slices dry, and rub off all the salt.
- Place them in one layer on a parchment-covered baking sheet
- Brush lightly with olive oil and roast for 15-20 minutes until soft
Filling
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic
- Heat a skillet over high-medium heat and add the ground beef
- Add the onion and garlic as the beef starts to brown
- Once the ground beef is done cooking, add the tomato paste, crushed tomato, water, spices, cooking wine, bay leaf, and water
- Let simmer for 20 minutes, and remove the bay leaf
Assembly
- Preheat oven to 400 F
- In an 8×8-inch oven-safe form place a single layer of eggplant slices, and add some of the filling on top. Repeat until you used it all.
- Mix yogurt and the egg in a seperate bowl and set aside.
- Bake the moussaka for 20-30 minutes
- Take the moussaka out of the oven and top with the yogurt mixture
- Place the moussaka back in the oven. Lower the temperature to 350 F and bake for another 10-15 minutes until the yogurt mixture is set
- Serve sprinkled with fresh parsley and a green salad
Notes
You can substitute ground beef for tofu, ground turkey, or lamb. Another great tip is to add more vegetables to the sauce such as mushroom and bell pepper.
