An Upside-Down Kind-Of Moussaka by Hetty Mckinnon
Dreaming up flavorful yet nutritious meals, night after night, is one of the greatest challenges in home cooking. Enter Hetty McKinnon, her approach to modern, hearty, and healthy comfort food that is powered by vegetables is matched by no one. Hetty graciously agreed to share this bowl of pure comfort with us. All my favorite ingredients; chickpeas, eggplants and tomatoes are simmered together to create this majestic combination of flavors.
For most of my life, I have thought moussaka to be a dish of ground beef, topped with creamy mashed potato. Many of my childhood friends were of Greek heritage and this is the version I sampled now and then when I visited their houses. Later, I realized that there were actually many different versions of moussaka in the world – in the Balkan region, the eggplant is replaced with potato, while other versions are not layered. Vegetarian versions often feature lentils. There is also a Lebanese version called maghmour which contains chickpeas.
I have not made moussaka often in my life, predominantly because it feels uncomfortably similar to shepherd’s pie, another dish of minced meat topped with mashed potato, and the only dish that my husband will not touch. Decades later, he still carries the scars of the “shepherd’s pie” he was served weekly at boarding school – it’s a sore topic with him, one which makes him shudder when mentioned, so it’s best I refrain from serving or even talking about this dish in our house.
When I set out to make this particular dish, it was not meant to be moussaka or anything like it really. The dish came to me in two parts – an eggplant and chickpea stew, which I wanted to serve with child-appeasing mashed potatoes. The idea was to serve the potato as the carby accompaniment to the stew, in place of the more usual rice or grains. Laced with New York Shuk’s fiery harissa flakes and earthy Provence en Jaffa herbs (optional), this stew is smoky and deeply aromatic and when I dished it up with the potatoes, it tasted unequivocally moussaka-esque. So, this ended up as my roundabout, upended, messed-up, deconstructed version, which left me asking, why don’t we eat mashed potato as a side to stews and curries more often? And what’s more, this is the dish which finally made my kids come around to eggplant.
-Hetty Mckinnon
An upside-down kind-of moussaka
Serves 4
2 medium eggplants, peeled and cut into thick (about 2cm) discs
extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 heaped tablespoon tomato paste
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped 28oz (800g) tinned crushed tomatoes
250g (from about 1 can) cooked chickpeas
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoon NEW YORK SHUK Fiery Harissa Spice flakes (you can substitute our Rosey Harissa Spice or Herby Harissa Spice)
1 tablespoon NEW YORK SHUK Provence en Jaffa (optional)
1 handful of chopped chives
sea salt and black pepper to taste
Creamy mashed potatoes
5 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
2-4 tbsp your chosen creamy addition – eg sour cream, butter, creme fraiche, cream cheese, half and half, mayonnaise or any vegan alternative
sea salt and black pepper
Salt the eggplant and leave to drain in a colander for 20 minutes.
Heat oven to 200˚C/400˚F. Rinse the eggplant and dry it off slightly with a kitchen towel. Lay the eggplant out on a baking tray, drizzle with oil and roast for 20-25 minutes until it is completely tender.
In a large pot or dutch oven, add about 1/4 cup of oil, along with the onions and sauté for 10 minutes until translucent and soft. Add the tomato paste and garlic and cook for 60 seconds until it is aromatic. Carefully transfer the roasted eggplant into the pot, along with the tomatoes, chickpeas, paprika, harissa, and Provence en Jaffa. Add about ½-1 cup of water to thin the sauce a little and cook for 20-25 minutes until the flavors have melded and the eggplant is creamy soft.
Meanwhile, bring a medium pot of lightly salted water to the boil and add the potatoes. Cook for 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are very soft. Reserve 1 cup of cooking water and drain the potatoes. Pour the potatoes back into the pan, add the reserved water back into the potatoes and mash. Stir your chosen creamy addition through the potatoes. Taste and if needed, add more salt along with a few turns of black pepper. You can enjoy this dish a couple of different ways. One way is to dollop some potatoes on a plate, and top with the stew and scatter with chives. Another way is to place the stew into an ovenproof vessel and top with the mashed potato and bake until crispy on the top.
Recipe & photos courtesy of Hetty McKinnon.
fiery harissa recipes, herby/Rosey Harissa recipes, stews, beans, eggplants, dinner recipes, vegetable recipes