Zucchini & Eggplant Savoury Cake
This beautiful Zucchini and Eggplant Cake is a contemporary takeoff on one of the Balkan moussaka recipes. Made with layers of boiled potatoes and meat sauce, topped with grated cheeses, and wrapped in char-grilled eggplant and zucchini slices to create an appealing and appetising appearance of the dish.
Equipment
- 1 26cm springform cake baking tin
Ingredients
- 3 eggplants cut into 0.6 cm slices
- 4 zucchini (peeled) cut into 0.6 cm slices
- 6 large potatoes
- 200 ml chopped tomatoes or thick tomato sauce
- 3 shallots finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced or finely chopped
- 500 g ground lamb meat
- 1 cup yellow cheese grated
- 1 cup feta cheese grated or broken into crumbs
- 1 teaspoon smoky paprika
- 1 teaspoon hot paprika
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 329°F/165°C.
- Wash and slice the eggplant and the zucchini lengthwise into 0.6 cm thick uniformed slices. Arrange the slices on a tray or a large plate, sprinkle with salt and let them sweat for 15-20 minutes. Then, rinse the eggplant and zucchini slices and pat dry them with paper towels. Grill the eggplant and zucchini slices on a griddle pan or on your barbecue.
- Peel and place the potatoes in a pot of water for 10 minutes, start timing from the moment the water comes to the boil. Slice the par-cooked potatoes into round slices, 1-cm thick.
- Peel and chop the onions, garlic and herbs finely. Sauté the chopped shallots for 2-3 minutes on medium heat, then add the garlic and saute for a minute. Place the ground meat in the pan and cook until the liquid evaporates, for 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle the dry spices and finely chopped parsley over the meat and sauté for further 5-10 minutes until you brown the meat. Add the chopped tomatoes to the meat and let the sauce simmer for 5-6 minutes.
Assembling the dish
- Cover the bottom of the baking tin with a single layer of zucchini and eggplant slices.
- Line the sides of the springform tin with grilled eggplant and zucchini slices, alternating them to make the pattern of the cake more interesting. Make sure the bottom end of the slices to overlap the vegetable slices on the floor of the tin, and 1/3 of the top of the slices to hang out of the cake tin.
- Arrange a layer of par-cooked round potato slices to cover the eggplant and zucchini base layer. Sprinkle a little bit of salt over the potatoes. Place 1/2 of the meat sauce over the potatoes and spread it evenly with a spoon. Press the meat with the spoon to remove air pockets. Sprinkle grated feta and yellow cheese on top of the meat.
- Arrange another layer of potato slices over the cheese layer. Sprinkle a little bit of salt over the potatoes. Spread the second half of the meat sauce, and finish with the rest of the grated yellow cheese and feta. Press with the spoon to remove air pockets.
- Cover the cake on top with the ends of the eggplant and zucchini slices left hanging out of the tin.
- Place in the preheated oven and bake for 40 minutes. .
- Serve warm with a fresh salad on the side.