Lentil Moussaka

A few weeks back I invited two friends over for dinner. One is a vegetarian, the other is a diabetic who avoids carbohydrates such as rice, pasta and potatoes. So you can imagine the cooking dilemma I had on my hands! I finally settled for this lentil moussaka recipe I found written on a scrap of paper inside an old cookbook. I didn't have red lentils so used brown ones instead. I had to increase the cooking time by nearly half an hour though as they were still quite firm when I originally took the dish out of the oven. I also added an extra tin of tomatoes to the recipe as I felt it was a bit dry. I wasn't able to find any fresh oregano in the shops so I used dried oregano instead. All in all despite my changes the dish was still enjoyed and devoured by all who ate it.

Ingredients:
2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
2 aubergines
1 large red pepper
1 large white onion
8oz/250g red or brown lentils
3 cloves of garlic
Oregano (preferably fresh)
Small bottle of red wine
Olive oil (for frying)
Salt and black pepper (for seasoning)

For the béchamel sauce
1 pint/600ml milk
4 tbsp plain flour
8oz/250gCheddar cheese
50g butter


Method
Heat the oven to 220°C/Gas mark 7. Finely chop the onion, red pepper and cloves of garlic.

Add some olive oil to a hot pan. Gently fry the onion til soft. Add the garlic and red pepper and fry for another 2-3 minutes. Add the red wine and tins of chopped tomatoes and bring to the boil.

Season with salt and pepper. Then add a generous sprinkling of oregano, approximately 2 tablespoons. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes.

While the dish is simmering, slice the aubergines into 1/2 inch slices. Sprinkle some salt on the slices to draw the water out. Heat some olive oil in a pan. Fry aubergine slices on each side until tender. Dry on kitchen paper.

Heat butter, milk and flour in a saucepan over a medium heat stirring all the time until boiling and thickened. Cook for one minute. Add all but two tablespoons of the grated cheese.

Layer lentil sauce and aubergine slices in a buttered ovenproof dish. Spoon layer of béchamel sauce over the aubergines. Scatter cheese on top.

Bake for 30 minutes at 220°C/Gas mark 7. If using brown lentils, bake for one hour. Voilà!