Healthy Moussaka Recipe

I am Bulgarian, and for me the food I grew up with holds a very special place in my heart. One of the meals I have always adore is Moussaka (although am battling to do the spelling).

But for most people Moussaka is not on the Healthy Meals List. After all it has cheese, a ton of oil, and depending on whose recipe you follow a few mls of cream too…

So today, I want to share my healthy moussaka recipe – a version that is still tasty but at a fraction of the calories per portion.

SERVES: My quantities make enough for 4 hearty servings. But of course feel free to adapt the recipe to the numbers you need to feed.

PREPARATION & COOKING TIME: Prep time – about 20 minutes / cooking time 30 minutes.

CALORIES PER PORTION: About 310 calories (obviously it depends on the individual ingredients you use, and if you choose to add cheese to the topping. I have used CalorieKing.com for my estimates.

Feel free to adjust those calorific values to your own taste.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 aubergine /eggplant cut in thin discs – about 3mm — 50 cals
• 1 medium onion – diced — 46cals
• 1 tin organic tomatoes (chopped) — 40 cals
• 1 large carrot – diced — 34 cals
• spices – salt, pepper, paprika, turmeric, oregano, thyme
• 400g extra lean ground beef — 656 cals
• oxo beef cube.
• 1 tsp Olive Oil — 39 cals
• 2 cloves of garlic — 8 cals
• 1 large x courgette/zucchini – cut in thin discs – about 2mm — 59 cals

FOR THE TOPPING

• 2 x medium eggs — 129 cals
• 1 cup of low fat plain yogurt — 154 cals

PREPARATION METHOD

1. When you’ve cut all the veggies, saute the carrots, mince, garlic, and onion in a pan until softened. Add spices – salt, pepper, turmeric, oregano, thyme.
2. Grease an oven dish which you’ll use for the moussaka.
3. Preheat the oven on 220C.
4. Start layering the ingredients:

* 1 layer zucchini discs
* 1 layer eggplant disks
* 1 layer mince mixture

5. Repeat until space or ingredients have finished, making sure to end with a zucchini layer on top. Usually it takes me about 2 layers of mince.
6. Prepare 1/2 lt of oxo/stock beef cube stock plus a teaspoon of paprika. You can use mild or hot paprika – depending on your taste. I like spicy so I take this opportunity to use my hot paprika.
7. Pour carefully all over the mixture.
8. You should aim not to disturb the layers and to almost cover them in the dish (about a finger from the top of the dish).

NOTE: I put some extra salt and pepper on each potato layer to add seasoning, but this will depend on how much flavor you like in your food.

9. Put in the oven for 30mins.

After about 20mins take a sheet of tin foil and cover the dish – that’s to prevent the top layer from burning.

10. In the meantime, prepare the sauce for the topping by mixing the eggs and yogurt together and string them well.
11. Take the dish out the oven. Pour the mixture over the top as evenly as possible so it covers the entire top and forms a layer.
12. If you've chosen to use cheese – you would sprinkle that on top (after grating it) so it can become golden brown.

NOTE: Depending on the size of your dish, you might need an extra egg or extra yogurt. The idea is to create a 2-3mm thick cover on top of the dish, which will serve as a lid to it :o)

13. Put dish back in the oven until golden brown on top – about 5-8 mins.
14. Ideally you would want the dish to sit for about 10 minutes with the tinfoil on top, but I never have the patience and dig right in – let me tell you – it’s delicious :o)

ENJOY!

* Here is one I made earlier ;o).

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. And please feel free to share the recipe with friends and family. Let me know what variations you come up with that taste good and are healthy.

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