Pinto Bean, Aubergine and Tahini Moussaka
Serves: 4
Chef Top Tip
"In this rich, vegetarian version of the Greek classic I infuse the classic white sauce with tahini, one of my favourite ingredients at the moment. It gives a wonderful nutty flavour to the dish while providing a great source of protein, essential vitamins & minerals."
Ingredients
- 150g dried pinto beans, soaked overnight, then cooked
- 150ml sunflower oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp freshly picked thyme
- 200g canned plum tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 3 large aubergines, thickly sliced
- Salt, pepper
For the tahini sauce:
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 300ml full fat milk
- 25g unsalted butter
- 25g plain flour
- 200g feta cheese, crumbled
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
Method
- Place the garlic cloves in a pan with the milk, cook over a low heat for about 20 minutes or until garlic is very soft; transfer to a blender and blitz until smooth, set aside.
- Heat 30ml of oil in a pan add the onion and garlic, cook over a medium heat until golden. Add the cooked pinto beans, cumin, thyme, tomatoes and tomato puree; cook over low heat for 25 minutes or until sauce has thickened.
- Preheat oven to 200c
- Heat remaining oil in a large frying pan, fry the aubergine slices for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden and drain any excess oil on kitchen paper. You will have to do this in batches for best results.
- Arrange a layer of fried aubergine in the base of a large ovenproof dish, cover them with half the pinto bean mix, top with another layer of aubergine, more beans, then finally a top layer of aubergines.
- To finish the sauce, make a roux from the flour & butter and stir in the garlic infused milk mix; cook out for 10 minutes until sauce has thickened.
- Add the feta cheese, tahini and stir until smooth. Finally beat in the egg and season to taste.
- Spoon the tahini sauce over the aubergines to cover, then place in the preheated oven to bake for 30 minutes until bubbling and golden.
- Serve with a crisp side salad.
All products marked in bold are available to purchase through Vegetarian Express.