A traditional Greek moussaka calls for minced beef or lamb. For summer days, however, I think this veggie version is more suitable. It's lighter, yet still hearty and comforting. It's not a weekday dish as it takes hours to put all the elements together, but it was certainly worth the time and effort.
You can replace mushroom powder with dried porcini mushrooms. Soak them in hot water to rehydrate, then chop them up and stir fry together with onion and garlic. If you wanna use fresh mushrooms, sweat them in a pan first or they will make the ragù watery.
Ingredients：
Veggie ragù
2 onions (peeled and finely sliced)
2 garlic cloves (peeled and finely sliced)
a dash of olive oil
a handful of fresh rosemary and sage
a handful of dried oregano
a pinch of dried mushroom powder
250ml red wine
1 can of chickpeas
100g dried brown lentils
few fresh bay leaves
2 x 400g tins of plum tomatoes
a pinch of salt & pepper
Veggie layers
2 large eggplant (sliced into 1cm-thick)
600g potatoes (peeled and roughly sliced)
Béchamel sauce
750ml semi-skimmed milk
5 black peppercorns
75g unsalted butter
75g plain flour
50g feta cheese
50g pecorino cheese
2 egg yolks
Steps：
Veggie ragù
1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
2. Heat oil in a pan. Sauté onion and garlic over medium-low heat. Add rosemary, sage, dried oregano and mushroom powder. Keep stirring.
3. Turn the heat up high. Add red wine and let it bubble and cook away.
4. Add chickpeas (with juice), lentils and bay leaves.
5. Scrunch in the tomatoes through your hands.
6. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low heat for 1 hour or until thickened and reduced. Stir occasionally.
Veggie layers
1. Place eggplant in a colander, sprinkle with salt and let drain.
2. Boil potatoes in a pan of boiling salted water for 5 minutes. Drain and then place in a roasting tray. Drizzle with oil. Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of dried oregano. Then roast in a single layer for 30 - 40 minutes or until golden and tender.
3. Meanwhile, rinse the eggplant and pat dry with kitchen paper, then spread out across the roasting tray in a single layer. Drizzle with oil. Season with pepper and oregano. Then roast for 30 - 40 minutes or until golden and cooked through.
Béchamel sauce
1. Warm milk with bay leaves and peppercorns in a pan on a medium-low heat. Strain into a jug before it boils.
2. Melt butter in a pan on medium heat, then stir in flour to form a paste.
3. Start adding the warm milk, a splash at a time, stir well in each addition until it becomes smooth and creamy.
4. Crumble in one-third of the feta and grate in one-third of the pecorino. Simmer over a low heat for 5 more minutes, or until thick and smooth. Then set aside to let it cool.
5. Once it's cooled down a bit, whisk yolks into the sauce.
Assemble
1. Layer potatoes in a baking tray.
2. Spoon half of the veggie ragù over.
3. Then layer half of the eggplant on top.
4. Repeat Step 2 & 3 with the remaining ragù and eggplant.
5. Pour the sauce over the eggplant layer.
6. Crumble and grate over the remaining cheese, drizzle with oil.
7. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden. Let cool on a wire rack for 15 - 30 minutes before serving.
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