Veganuary Day 6 - Lebanese Moussaka
Hi there! Happy Monday 💚
Some of you have already started our Veganuary meal plan, and if you haven’t yet, is not too late! Join us and start the year with nutritious and tasty recipes.
Today, for Veganuary Day 6, I’m sharing a simple but so delicious recipe. I started cooking this recipe last summer with eggplants, tomatoes, and mint from the garden, but to be honest, this Lebanese Moussaka is just perfect for a winter day, too, so give it a try if you can!
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Ingredients
For this recipe, you'll need some fresh vegetables and a few pantry ingredients that you probably already have!
Eggplants. For this dish, we prefer medium to large eggplants. To ensure that the eggplants are fresh, make sure the top part is still green (sometimes it can be moldy or brown).
Fresh tomatoes. Traditionally, Maghmour is made with fresh tomatoes. You can optionally use canned tomatoes if fresh tomatoes are not ripe and juicy. Other options we've used before are passata or homemade or jarred tomato sauce.
Chickpeas. You can use canned chickpeas or tinned chickpeas by simply adding them to the stew or dry chickpeas, soaking them in fresh water overnight, and pressure cooking the chickpeas until tender before adding them to the Maghmour.
Tomato paste. We like adding some tomato paste or tomato puree to add that umami note to the dish.
Onion and garlic. Yellow onion and fresh garlic are the base of this Lebanese Moussaka. You can use white onions, red onions, or shallots.
Cinnamon. Our Maghmour recipe includes cinnamon powder as it enhances the natural sweetness of the tomatoes. You can also use a cinnamon stick.
Dried mint. Mint is used to give Maghmour its unique flavor. You can also, use fresh mint to garnish the dish as we do, but we recommend adding some dried mint also. You may not be able to get dried mint in your regular grocery store, but you should be able to find it in most health food shops or large supermarkets.
Olive oil. For this recipe, we bake the eggplant. To do this, we first coat the eggplant pieces in olive oil.
Cooking Method
Wash, peel, and cut the eggplants. For Maghmour, we recommend peeling the eggplant and leaving some lines of skin, as you can see in the picture. This way, the eggplant will keep its shape while cooking and combine it with the rest of the stew ingredients. Cut the eggplant into big chunks.
Place the eggplant pieces in a baking dish or baking tray, drizzle a generous amount of olive oil, combine, making sure all the pieces are well coated, and bake for about 20-25 minutes at 400F (200C). Before taking it out, make sure the eggplant has softened and is fork-tender.
Heat some olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion finely chopped, and cook for a few minutes until the color starts to change. Then, add the garlic and cook for 1-2 more minutes.
Now, you can add the tomato paste, cinnamon powder, and chopped tomatoes. Bring the heat to medium-low heat, stir well, and cook for at least 10 minutes. For this part, we cover the pan with a lid. Keep adding a little water from time to time so the tomatoes don't stick to the pan and burn.
Once the fresh tomatoes are cooked and fragrant, add the baked eggplant and chickpeas. At this point, add a little water to ensure the right stew consistency. I like adding the water just by tablespoons until I reach the perfect stewy consistency.
Add the dried mint and combine well. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
Download the whole recipe for quantities and instructions. Also, you can find more information about this recipe on the blog.
I hope you enjoy this recipe, and make sure to go to the blog post to get some serving suggestions and more information that will be useful when making this recipe.
Love,
Laura.
Looks really yummy!
This is tasty ❤️