Skinnied Up Moussaka

Instructions

Eggplant

Preheat the oven to 400℉.
Cut the eggplant(s) into ¼" slices.
Place a layer of eggplant slices in a large bowl and sprinkle with salt. Continue to put down layers of eggplant sprinkled with salt until all the eggplant slices are in the bowl. Fill the bowl with cold water. Place a plate on top of the eggplant and put a measuring cup full of water on top of the plate to weight the eggplant down.
Let the eggplant soak for 25 min. When they are done soaking, rinse each slice under cold running water. Lay the eggplant slices down on paper towels to blot off the water. Use another paper towel to blot the top surfaces of the eggplant slices.
Spray a large cookie sheet or baking pan with Pam. Use a piece of paper towel to smear it over the bottom of the pan. Lay the eggplant slices on the cookie sheet. Bake for 8 min at 400℉. Remove from the oven when done and set aside. If need be use several cookie sheets to get all of the eggplant slices baked.
As soon as all the eggplant slices are done baking, lower the oven temperature to 375℉.
While the eggplant slices are soaking, start working on your meat and tomato sauce and white sauce.

Meat Layer and Tomato Sauce

Open the canned diced tomatoes and drain of the liquid. Place the tomatoes in a bowl and purée them with an hand immersion blender.
Add the dried oregano, cinnamon, nutmeg, paprika, packet of sweetener, and salt and pepper to taste to the puréed tomatoes. Mix all of the spices into the puréed tomatoes and set aside.
Chop the onion and mince the garlic clove or run it through a garlic press.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the chopped onion to the skillet and sauté the onions until they are soft and translucent. Add the minced garlic and saute for 30 sec or until it becomes aromatic.
Add the ground turkey to the skillet with the sautéed onions and garlic. Use a wooden spoon or meat masher and break the ground turkey up into crumbles. Sauté until the ground turkey is cooked. If necessary add about ¼ c of water to the pan to facilitate the cooking.
Remove the skillet from the heat when the ground turkey is cooked. Drain away any excess water and fat and then return the ground turkey to the skillet.
Add the spiced tomato purée to the skillet with the ground turkey and stir to uniformly mix it into the meat. Add the tomato paste and water and mix it into the meat mixture and cook over medium heat until the sauce cooks down and becomes nice and thick. Shut off the heat and remove the meat and sauce from the heat source and let it sit until you are ready for it.

White Sauce

Place the plain non fat yogurt in a coffee filter lined strainer set in side of a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in the refrigerator over night. I use a lot of thickened yogurt so I always have some in the refrigerator ready for use.
Mix the cornstarch and water together to make a slurry and set aside.
Place the ricotta cheese, thicken plain non fat yogurt, light Miracle Whip and ground nutmeg in a 3 qt sauce pot. Mix them together until they are well incorporated. Add salt and pepper to taste and give it one more stir.
Start to slowly heat the white sauce mixture over medium-low heat. The sauce mixture will start to thin out as it heats. You want to go slow so, the sauce doesn't break and curdle. When you begin to see bubbles appear, give the cornstarch slurry one more mix and then add it slowly to the white sauce mixture while you are stirring it. Continue to stir and heat the sauce until bubbles begin to form. Turn the heat down further and continue to stir it and cook for 1 min. Remove the sauce from the heat and set it aside to cool off.

Assembling the Moussaka

Spray the bottom and sides of a 10" x 10" square casserole dish with Pam. Use a piece of paper towel to smear it over the bottom and sides of the dish.
Lay down slices of baked eggplant slices over the bottom of the casserole dish, slightly overlapping the slice to form a nice layer of eggplant.
Spoon ½ of the ground turkey and tomato sauce over the bottom layer of eggplant slices. Use the back of a spoon to smooth the meat and sauce over the eggplant making a even layer of the meat mixture.
Put down another layer of eggplant slices over the meat mixture. Spoon the rest of the turkey and tomato sauce over the second layer of eggplant and smooth it out into a nice even layer. Lay down a third and final layer if eggplant slices over the second layer of meat and sauce.
Use a fork to whip the egg white and then mix it into the cooled white sauce mixture. The white sauce mixture should be sufficiently cooled so the egg white does not cook or curdle when added to the sauce.
Pour the white sauce over the top layer of eggplant slices. Use the back of a spoon or a spatula to spread the white sauce evenly over the eggplant slices. Make sure the white sauce is spread edge to edge of the casserole dish. Place the casserole in the oven and bake at 375℉ for 30 - 40 min. You are looking for the edges of the casserole to be bubbly and the top a pale golden brown. The white sauce may crack in spots.
Remove the moussaka from the oven when it is done and allow to sit for 10 - 15 min so the white sauce can set before cutting it.
Serve and enjoy. Refrigerate any leftover moussaka. If you have any eggplant slices leftover that you did not use in the casserole, refrigerate those as well - they are great in paninis.

Equipment

Ingredients

Eggplant

Meat and Tomato Sauce

White Sauce

Instructions

Eggplant

Meat Layer and Tomato Sauce

White Sauce

Assembling the Moussaka

Notes

Nutrition

Skinnied Up Moussaka

Equipment

Ingredients 1x2x3x

Eggplant

Meat and Tomato Sauce

White Sauce

Instructions

Eggplant

Meat Layer and Tomato Sauce

White Sauce

Assembling the Moussaka

Notes

Nutrition

Ingredients