Lamb & Aubergine Bake

Lamb and Aubergines are a marriage made in heaven. A good example of that can be seen in Mousakka, a Greek classic. I've created a healthy version here which tastes even better the next day. The vegetables are baked and the topping is butter and cheese free but still delicious.

Essentially the cooking process is in 3 stages. The 1st stage is to bake the vegetables. The 2nd stage involves making a good sauce with minced lamb. The final part is the white sauce to go on top and then the whole lot is layered up and baked in the oven. It sounds time consuming but you can be simmering the meat sauce while the vegetables bake and the white sauce can be whipped up just before baking the lot.

Ingredients:

Aubergines x 2 decent sized ones
Courgettes x 2 [optional]
Olive oil

2 cloves of garlic peeled and crushed
2 large tomatoes
2 medium sized brown onions peeled and diced
Herbs: anything to hand - dried oregano works really well; thyme and rosemary and parsley for garnishing the meat sauce.
Anchovy fillets - about 2/3 chopped up
Tomato puree - a couple of tbs
Salt and pepper
Lean Lamb Mince - defrosted/drained in colander
1 pint of chicken stock
2 bay leaves
cornflour
milk

1 tbs flour
Olive oil
Milk
Plain Yogurt [0% fat]
2 egg yolks

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Whilst it's heating up slice up the Aubergines, arrange in a roasting tray & brush with olive oil using a pastry brush or just your hands. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Slice up the courgettes if using and do the same. Bung them into the oven for 45min at 180 degrees C.

2. Fry the lamb mince in a little olive oil for 10-15 minutes. The supermarket packs usually have a lot of moisture and you have to wait for the water to evaporate before it will actually fry. Good quality stuff usually doesn't have a lot of water. Don't just let the meat go from pink to grey in the oil - really fry it to get dark reddish caramelised bits that catch in the pan. Scrape the lot into a colander and drain the fat. While the meat rests in the colander, start the sauce in the same pan.
3. Fry the chopped onions in olive oil then add the garlic, herbs and anchovies.
4. Add chopped tomatoes and puree
5. Add the meat back in along with 1 pint of chicken stock and 2 bay leaves, season well. Mix well and scrape all the goodness from the bottom of the pan into the sauce.
6. Reduce this sauce slowly for about 45min until the oil rises to the top. To thicken if too watery, blend a tbs of cornflour with a tbs of cold milk and add this to the ragu. Remove the bay leaves.

7. Layer the aubergines and courgettes with the meat sauce in a deep dish.

 8. Combine 1 tbs of flour with 3 tbs of olive oil in a clean dry pan. Place over a very low heat to thicken like a roux.
9. Add cold milk in small increments and stir all the time to prevent lumps. Stop when you get a thick sauce. Take it off the heat & if it is lumpy - strain through a sieve.
10. Add cold plain yogurt - about 1/2 a cup or 3/4 tbs - do not season the white sauce
11. Add in 2 egg yolks and mix well
12. Pour the cold white sauce over the top of the layered dish
13. Place on the middle shelf of the oven at 180 degrees C for 45min or until the top is golden and set. Leave to cool and serve with cold crunchy lettuce leaves.

The white sauce was a bit of trial and error - I tried it with just cornflour and milk and yogurt but it was too runny. A roux with flour and olive oil works well and you don't need cheese. The egg yolks work to set and help colour the white sauce. As the meat sauce is so rich and seasoned well with anchovies and salt, there is no need for any seasoning in the white sauce. Garnish with parsley if you want.

This dish is low carb and high protein and a great alternative to lasagne as there is the layered meat effect with veg rather than heavy pasta. The aubergines are perfect in absorbing all the flavours like a sponge and as they are baked they are healthier than fried ones that soak in too much fat. Another way of cooking them without the use of too much fat is to steam them - I'll be trying that next time!