Zucchini & Eggplant Savoury Cake (Courgette & Aubergine Cake) is a beautiful dish created with great imagination. It’s an excellent meal to have at dinner parties and can be served in combination with a variety of salads and other dishes. Impress your dinner guests with this interesting arty dish that not only looks good but has wonderful flavours.

ORIGINS OF THE ZUCCHINI & EGGPLANT SAVOURY CAKE.

In my opinion, this Zucchini and Eggplant cake is based on a popular mousaka recipe from Balkan cuisine, but it developed with a contemporary twist.

Like the original Moussaka recipe, this savoury cake has layers of potatoes and lamb meat sauce. Instead of the traditional egg topping, it has a topping made of cheese.

This contemporary Moussaka is wrapped in beautiful chargrilled eggplant and zucchini slices to create an exciting and original dish.

HOW TO MAKE THIS ELEGANT SAVOURY CAKE?

📋 INGREDIENTS IN THE EGGPLANT & ZUCCHINI CAKE

Eggplant (aubergines) & Zucchini (courgettes): Always choose fresh vegetables for this dish. It is recommended that you source longer and not very thin zucchini and eggplants, so the slices are long enough to wrap the cake. However, they should not be too ripe and with large seeds.

Potatoes: Choose waxy potatoes because they keep their shape better when cooked.

Meat: Although this recipe is made with ground lamb, you can use another mincemeat of your choice or even small pieces of meat. It will be good with beef or with chicken.

Onions: This recipe is made with shallots, but you can use yellow, brown or yellow onions if shallots are not available.

Herbs and Spices: This recipe contains sweet and smoky paprika, but it will also be great with added cumin seeds. Parsley is added for wonderful earthy fresh flavours.

📖 STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

For assembling the cake, we need a 26cm springform cake tin that will help us build up the cake. When it’s ready, you can remove the ring wall without damaging the shape of the cake.

Step 1: Grill the eggplants and THE zucchini

Wash the zucchini and the eggplants well and remove the green parts.

Cut the eggplants (aubergines) and the zucchinis (courgettes) lengthwise into uniformed 0.6 cm thick slices. It is easier to do it with a mandoline or an electric slicing machine, but if you do not own one, do try to cut even slices with a sharp knife. Uniformed slices will cook evenly.

Sprinkle the eggplant and zucchini slices with salt and let them sweat for 15 minutes to release their bitterness. Rinse the eggplant and zucchini slices under the kitchen tap, then press them with paper towels to remove excess moisture.

Brush the eggplant and zucchini slices with olive oil and grill them on a griddle pan. These beautiful dark grill lines from the griddle pan are essential for the appearance of the savoury cake. You can do them on a barbecue as well.

Step 2: Prepare the filling

Peel and boil the potatoes, then cut the cooked potatoes into 1 cm thick round slices.

Chop the shallots finely. Sauté the shallots in olive oil for 2 minutes. Add chopped garlic and sauté for another 2 minutes.

Add the ground meat to the pan and break lumps with a spoon to help the meat cook evenly. Saute for 5-10 minutes until the liquid evaporates.

Add the spices, stir and saute for a few minutes. Add the finely chopped fresh parsley and stir. Saute until the meat is almost ready, then add the canned chopped tomatoes and cook for further 5-6 minutes.

Divide the meat sauce into two equal parts. 

You can grate or cut the cheeses into small cubes, that is entirely up to you. I prefer to grate at least the yellow cheese to make sure it melts completely.

Step 3: Assemble thE ZUCCHINI & EGGPLANT cake

First, line the bottom of the springform tin with a single layer of grilled zucchini and eggplant slices.

Next, line the sides of the springform tin with grilled zucchini and eggplant slices. Slightly overlap and alternate them to make the cake more interesting. Leave 1/3 of the top end of the slices to hang out of the tin, and make sure they overlap a small part of the bottom layer of vegetable slices in the springform, as shown in the photo below.

Arrange the cooked potato slices over the zucchini and eggplant layer on the bottom of the cake tin. Sprinkle a little salt over them. 

Pour 1/2 of the mince mixture over the potatoes and press it down with a spoon.

Place the grated yellow cheese and feta on top of the meat mixture.

Arrange the rest of the potato slices over the cheese. Spread the rest of the meat sauce evenly on top and finish with more grated yellow cheese and feta.

Carefully press on top with the spoon to make sure there are no gaps between the layers of ingredients. Fold in the loose ends of the zucchini and eggplant slices to meet on top of the cake.

Step 4: Cook thE SAVOURY Cake

Place the springform tin with the cake in the middle of the hot oven. Cook at a moderate temperature for 30-40 minutes for the cheese to melt inside.

Remove the tin ring wall carefully. Decorate with a few baby tomatoes on top.

🍲 HOW TO SERVE THIS DISH

You can eat this beautiful Zucchini and Eggplant cake warm or cold. Either way, it is delicious. Serve it along with other dishes, or as a main course with a fresh salad on the side.

Enjoy! 👨‍🍳👨‍🍳👨‍🍳