THYME


MOUSSAKA
Inspired By: Moussaka from The Complete Low-Fat Cookbook

Ingredients:

2 lbs eggplant
cooking spray
10 oz. Lean lamb mince
2 onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
13 oz can tomatoes
1 Tbsp PureSpice ® THYME
1 tsp. PureSpice ® Oregano
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 PureSpice ® bay leaf
1 tsp. Sugar

Cheese Sauce:
1 ¼ cups skim milk
2 Tbsp. plain flour
¼ cup grated reduced fat Cheddar
1 cup Ricotta
Pinch of PureSpice ® cayenne
¼ tsp. PureSpice ® Ground nutmeg

1. Cut the eggplant into 1 cm thick slices, place in a colander over a large cowl, layering with salt and leave to stand for 20 minutes.
2. Lightly spray and a non-stick frying pan with oil and brown lamb mince over medium-high heat. Once all the meat is browned, set aside.
3. Spray the pan again with oil, add the onion, and stir continuously for 2 minutes. Add 1 Tbsp. water to pan to prevent sticking. Add the garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Push the undrained tomatoes through a sieve, and discard contents of sieve
4. Return the meat to the pan with the onion. Add the herbs, tomato pulp, tomato paste, wine, bay leaf and sugar. Cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.
5. Preheat grill. Thoroughly rinse and dry the eggplant, place on grill, spray lightly with oil and grill on high heat until brown. Turn over, spray lightly, and grill again. Arrange half the eggplant slices over the base of a baking dish. Top with half the meat mixture. Layer with rest.
6. Preheat oven to 350. To make the cheese sauce, blend a little of the milk with the flour to form a paste in a small pan. Gradually blend in the remaining milk, stirring constantly over low heat until milk starts to simmer and thicken. Remove from the heat and stir in the Cheddar, ricotta, cayenne and nutmeg. Pour over the moussaka and bake for 40 minutes, or until cheeses are brown and the moussaka is heated through.