Mock Moussaka
 

This recipe is suitable for maintenance or moderate carb. N.B. You could adapt it to suit Atkins induction by using a mix of cream cheese and water instead of yoghurt, using only one onion, and halving or omitting the rutabaga.

Meat sauce:

2 medium onions - chopped
500g ground beef (this recipe assumes less than 20% fat)
2 aubergines - washed and diced
200g approx. of rutabaga - washed and diced
400g can of passata (or tinned tomatoes)
1 can of water
seasoning
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp cinnamon

Topping:

2 eggs
500g yogurt (or sub with cream cheese/water mix)
85g cheddar cheese - grated

Fry onions in a little oil, then add meat and brown it. Add all other meat sauce ingredients except the aubergine, cover and stew for 10 mins, then add the aubergine, cover and stew for 20 more minutes. Pour into a casserole.

Mix together the topping ingredients: eggs, yoghurt and 2/3 of the grated cheddar and pour it over the meat sauce. Top with the rest of the cheddar and bake it for 30 minutes at gas mark 4.

The recipe will serve 6- 8 with a small side salad.

147.73 156.75 167.03 48.20 2672

Divided into 8 portions, the counts are:

18g carbs 20g protein 21g fat 6g fibre 334 calories

As previously mentioned, you could adapt it to suit induction by using a mix of cream cheese and water instead of yoghurt, using only one onion, and halving or omitting the rutabaga.

This looks delicious!! Always looking for eggplant and turnip recipes !!

This recipe doesn't look all that different from one I have that is "real" moussaka, so not sure what makes this "mock".

Except it doesn't have any cinnamon. Without cinnamon it's not really moussaka IMHO. :D

Yikes! Merpig - Thanks for pointing that out! It should have a teaspoonful of cinnamon in it! Now, I cannot edit it! (though I'd view the cinnamon and the oregano as optional, or swappable for mixed herbs and maybe allspice or cloves. :P)

It's mock because the veggies are just diced and cooked in with the stew, which is really fast and easy. Plus the rutabaga is used instead of potato, which I prefer because it absorbs the flavour of the sauce.

We used to follow recipes for moussaka which involved slicing the aubergine, salting it, drying it, wiping it, frying it or oven-roasting it, then assembling it as a layer. It really wasn't worth the pallaver.

Yum Yum.. Have a shot at this version and see what you think.

Thanks Ms Arielle... It's so nice to find someone else who refers to this vegetable as turnip. Here in Scotland that's what we call it. The diminutive/affectionate term is "neeps", and it's part of our traditional Burns Supper fare of "haggis, neeps and tatties". In England it's a swede and in the US it's rutabaga.

We don't use the word "eggplant". To us it's an aubergine.There are a lot of differences in the names of food between the USA and here. When I first joined the forum, I was always having to do internet searches for food items such as zucchini (courgette) and canola oil (rapeseed oil)

have a nice day

:D

If anyone can edit it, it needs a teaspoonful of cinnamon (or more to taste) added with the oregano. Please :) But the oregano and cinnamon could be left out and it would still be yummy :P

Rutabaga prep tips: it's fine to leave the skin on. If you find rutabaga hard to chop, you can pierce it as if it were a potato and cook it in the microwave on high for a few minutes to soften it before chopping.

Done! :)

Just for future reference ... the time limit for editing posts is 24 hrs/1440 minutes (except in the journals, where there is no limit). Members are welcome to use the report tool to request any desired changes. The moderators will be glad to help :idea:

p.s. - this recipe looks amazing :yum:. I'm currently in the process of moving but plan to make this once settled in my new digs.

Well true, the recipe I've always followed did this too, which did make it a bit of a pain, but I did love it, just didn't make it often. The recipe I followed didn't include potatoes so didn't need a sub for that, but adding turnips sounds like a good option.