Baked Eggplant Casserole

Or that yummy Greek dish also called MOUSSAKA!!

Not Moose Kah Kah.

MOUSSAKA

We all know every Grandma has her way of doing a casserole.  Isn't casserole another word for cleaning out the fridge and bake it all at once?

Everyone has their own favorite way to make lasagna-so I'm not about to say any version of  Moussaka is authentic. 

It's my quest in life to produce each meal with as few dirty pots and pans as possible.  Or at least be able to clean up while the meal is in the oven like a casserole.

Last week this dish was simple because I had leftover mashed potatoes from one dinner and leftover tomato sauce from a pasta dinner.  So all I had to do was roast eggplant, zucchini, assemble.

This week we had leftover tomato sauce from making Soph's lasagna.  I had to cook potatoes and make the white sauce for tonight's dish.  No biggie.   Just did that while the eggplant was roasting in the oven.

This version is vegetarian.   You can make a tomato sauce with meat if desired.

My shortcut is to keep cooked, ground proteins in the freezer, so at last minute if I decided to add meat it would be ready.

Peeled, diced eggplant.  Toss with olive oil, S & P and nutmeg.  Yes nutmeg. 

Nutmeg sounds weird because as Americans we are used to it in desserts.  Sprinkle ground nutmeg on raw vegetables like squashes and eggplant, then into the hot oven.  It's a wonderful marriage of roasted sweetness and a hint of spice.

I probably use more ground white pepper than ground black pepper when cooking.  Nutmeg reminds me of ground white pepper.  A delicate heat... but a hint of something different....je ne sais quoi?

5 medium, peeled, diced, boiled yukon potatoes on the left.  2 Cups basic white sauce on the right. 

Last week we had about 2 C leftover mashed potatoes.  All I had to do with that was add eggs and cheese.

Roasted eggplants in the casserole dish on the left.  About 2 C your favorite tomato sauce spooned over top. 

Basic white sauce combined with the cooked potatoes, 1 Cup shredded flavorful cheese, 2 eggs. 

This sauce is then spooned over the tomato and eggplant.

Bake, uncovered, into yummy golden goodness at about 325-350' until the top is puffed and golden.

Naan or pita bread is lovely with this. And wine.  Lots of wine.