Using a different mince.
We had purchased several eggplants from the markets as they are in season currently. While they keep pretty well in the fridge, I had a few available that I wanted to use up. Eggplants are really a pretty vegetable and come in many different shapes and sizes. I do love eggplant but I’ll admit that my repertoire of recipes with eggplant is on the low side. Apart from ratatouille, moussaka is the only other one I know where it’s a core ingredient.
When you think of Moussaka, you have images of lucious tomato and shiny eggplants baked with a rich lamb mince mixture and cheese. Mentally going through my fridge I knew I had all ingredients required… except for lamb mince. I’ve made moussaka a few times before so knew how key lamb mince was for the recipe. When dining out, the moussaka you can buy is made with lamb mince. This is when I decided to take a gamble and improvise by using chicken mince. I can confirm that the result was just as delicious – just not as rich as if I had used lamb mince. I guess that’s not a bad thing. The kids loved this meal for dinner – both had a second helping! That made me one happy mumma.
When using eggplants as a core ingredient, something you need to consider is that they need to ‘sweat’ before you use them. If you don’t, they can be quite bitter and can taint a meal like this. That’s why it’s essential you don’t skip this part of the recipe.
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Chicken Moussaka
Ingredients
- 1 x 450g eggplant, cut into 1cm-thick rounds
- olive oil cooking spray
- 2 tablespoon salt
- 1 onion, large, roughly chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
- 2 x 410g cans tomatoes, whole peeled, chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, crushed
- 500 g chicken mince
- 1/3 cup parsley, finely chopped fresh (optional)
- 1 cup white sauce
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
- salt
- Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220ºC/200°C fan-forced.
- Grease a 6cm-deep, 7 cup-capacity square baking dish.
- Place sliced eggplant on a tray and sprinkle liberally with salt. Set aside for 15-20 minutes. Rinse under cold water and pat dry with paper towel.
- Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat. Spray both sides eggplant with oil. Cook, in batches, for 3 to 4 minutes each side or until golden. Transfer to a plate.
- Spray pan with oil. Reduce heat to medium and add onion. Cook, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes or until translucent in colour.
- Add spice and garlic and cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant.
- Add chicken mince, stir for 4-5 minutes to cook and lightly brown.
- Add tomato and parsley. Cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes or until thickened and all ingredients are combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper if required.
- Arrange half the eggplant in prepared dish. Top with chicken mixture. Top with remaining eggplant. Top with white sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Stand for 5 minutes. Serve.