Experiment Recipe: Moussagna (Moussaka Lasagna Hybrid!) (meaty or veggie)

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

This little creation was born when I went shopping and had a bit of a split personality moment. I was in two minds whether to make moussaka or lasagna so I bought the ingredients for both!

Moussagna (Moussaka Lasagna Hybrid!)

This little creation was born when I went shopping and had a bit of a split personality moment. I was in two minds whether to make moussaka or lasagna so I bought the ingredients for both!

The diced gherkins make a great addition to the mince, adding a nice texture and a little sharpness which balances the fat from the mince!

This recipe does have a some meat, but considering the size of the dish it’s not much. A touch of veggie mince would make this a top veggie dish.

* cooking

prep time 45-60m

cooking time 25m @ 200C

* storage after it’s cooked

fridge (1-4C) ~7days

freezable cut it into portions and bag or wrap in cling film before freezing!

* reheat 

oven defrost, remove plastic wrapper then 20-30m @ 180C

microwavable defrost, remove plastic wrapper then 3mins / 400g @ 800W

* equipment

28x14cm baking tin (at least 6cm deep )

(GN 1/3 6cm)

ingredients (serves 6-8)

for the red sauce

2 red peppers (2cm square pieces)

2 red onion (1cm dice)

50ml olive oil

1/2 courgette (washed, peeled, 1cm dice)

25g butter

400g fried tomatoes (recipe here)

25g Sriracha hot sauce

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp sugar (optional)

for the white sauce

500ml milk

50g butter (room temp)

200g mature cheddar (grated)

1/2 tsp black pepper (freshly ground)

1/2 tsp maldon salt (1/4 normal salt)

1 tbsp corn flour (mixed into 100ml of water)

for the minced component (meat or veggie)

1 large onion (~200g, 1cm dice)

4 sweet pickled gherkins (~5mm dice)

250g minced beef / lamb / veggie mince

4 cloves garlic

for the aubergine

1 large aubergine

50ml olive oil

for the topping

65g bread crumbs

10g parsley (fine chop)

squeeze of lemon

slug of olive oil

for the assembly

250g fresh egg pasta sheets

method

red sauce

Prep the red pepper, onion and mix them with the oil in a medium pot.

Cook with the lid on, on a medium heat for 35 mins, string occasionally. (The red pepper should end up soft.)

Use the time to prep the aubergine & white sauce.

To finish the red sauce, sauté the courgette with the butter, then add it to the onion & pepper mix.

Add the fried tomato, hot sauce, sugar and vinegar. 

Mix well and leave on a medium low heat to simmer until you need it to assemble the dish.

white sauce

Warm the milk and butter in a medium saucepan until the butter has melted.

Mix the water and corn flour in a cup and pour it into the cheesy milk, stirring as you do.

Stir the bottom of the pan with the flat end of a flat ended spatula until the sauce has thickened.

Add the cheese and stir until smooth. 

TIPS:

The sauce won’t look that thick, but don’t forget that the lasagna sheets will absorb a lot of moisture.

The reason for using a flat ended spatula instead of a spoon, is that much more of the sauce is moved from the (hot) bottom of the pan stopping it burning and meaning that it thickens more quickly and evenly!!

for the minced component (meat or veggie)

Sweat off the onions and garlic in a frying pan on a medium heat, once translucent add the mince.

Break it apart and leave it alone until the meat has started to brown.

Mix it again and repeat until the all the mix is a lovely golden brown. 

Season it and add the gherkins, mixing well. Put to one side until needed.

aubergine

Slice aubergine into 1/2 cm slices. 

Coat a frying pan with oil, removing the excess by pouring it into a heatproof jug.

place the sobering in the pan and turn once.

topping

Season and mix well.

assembly

So at this point you should have all the layers ready!!

Arrange the ingredients in layers and cook at 200C for 25min.

= = = = = TOP = = = = = 

breadcrumb mix

white sauce

aubergine

white sauce

——— pasta

red sauce

——— pasta

white sauce

aubergine

meaty mix

white sauce

——— pasta

red sauce

——— pasta

meaty mix

white sauce

——— pasta

red sauce

= = = = = BOTTOM = = = = = 

Baked lawn anyone?? : )

Recipe: Leek & Lemon Verbena Soup w/ Rosemary Croutons

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

I naused up one of our delivery orders last week, and wasn’t there to receive it. Result? 5kg of leeks surplus to requirements!! Oops!

Time to get inventive and create some recipes for the blog, without putting on too much weight!! I went for the obvious one first and used them to create a soup, and the base for a few other recipes! 

Now there’s no way the kids are going to go for a leek soup no matter how class it tastes, so I made them fried chicken with sweet and sour leek tagleatelli. With half a kilo of (unidentifiable - he he) leeks in it! That has to count as one of your five a day, surely!!

For the grown ups I made stuffed pheasant thighs w/ creamy mash, leek verbena puree and quince and orange sauce. A+!! Even if I do say so myself ; )

Anyway that swiftly dealt with our leek problem! 

Here’s the soup recipe . . .  coming in at 50 kcal / 100g it’s über healthy! Ahem don’t mention the croutons.

ingredients 

for the leek soup (makes 3L - serves 8-12)

2.5kg leeks (cleaned, trimmed, coarsely chopped)

70g (16) garlic (16 cloves, peeled & crushed)

2 onions (diced & caramelised)

50ml extra virgin olive oil

3 carrots (I’d leave these out next time, just needed to use them!)

1L vegetable stock (2 veg stock cubes + 1L boiling water)

16g lemon verbena (chopped at last minute)

1 lemon (zest & juice)

5g salt

~

Prep the ingredients.

Caramelise the onions in a pot big enough for everything.

Then add the rest of the ingredients. 

Bring to the boil and simmer for 45m with the lid on.

Use a stick blender to turn it into a smooth soup.

Pass it if you’re feeling a bit an4l! ; )

Personally I liked the consistency, but if you want to thicken it up a little add 1-2tbsp of cornflour mixed with water and stir the soup until thickened.

for the rosemary croutons

125g butter

15g rosemary (4 sprigs, bruised)

8 thick sliced bread

~

In a small saucepan melt the butter keep the heat up until it stops sizzling. (which means all the water has evaporated.)

Add the bruised rosemary carefully. It may spit, specially if the rosemary is wet.

Take it off the heat & leave it to infuse for 30 minutes.

Once infused toast the bread and brush it with butter on both sides.

Cut into large dice and put it in a 120C oven for 60 minutes.

for the garnish

lemon verbena

croutons

~

Serve the soup in hot bowls and top with croutons and a lemon verbena leaf!

equipment

Stick blender.

thinking ahead

You can freeze this and it will last in the fridge for at least a week.