Singletree Winery Roasted Eggplant and Turkey Moussaka

Servings: 6
Prep time: 50 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

Roasted Eggplant:

2-3 eggplants
3 Tbsp olive oil
Salt

Turkey meat sauce:

1 lb ground turkey (white and or dark)
2 Tbsp. 30ml olive oil
1 large onion
3-4  chopped garlic cloves
1 cup diced tomatoes (fresh or canned)
¾ cup white wine
5 Tbsp tomato paste
3 Tbsp ketchup
1 tsp dried fine herbs or parsley
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp salt

Béchamel sauce:

4 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
2 cups milk
½ tsp grated nutmeg
To taste salt and pepper
1  egg

1 cup ricotta cheese
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
½  cup grated gruyere cheese

Directions:

Roasted eggplant:

Wash and cut eggplant into ¼ inch thick slices. Layer eggplant discs onto paper towel or in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Let sit for 30 minutes to draw out moisture and bitterness. Rinse well and pat dry with paper towel. Arrange into greased baking sheet in one layer and drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 400F for about 25 minutes until golden brown.

Turkey meat sauce:

In large skillet sauté diced onion on medium high heat for 3 minutes, add chopped garlic and lower heat cooking until tender (about 10 minutes). Turn heat back to medium high and add ground turkey cooking and stirring until lightly browned. Add to turkey mixture the wine and let cook down for 2-3 minutes then add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, ketchup, cinnamon, nutmeg, herbs, sugar, salt and pepper. Stir all together and cover. Simmer on low for 25 minutes.

Béchamel sauce:

In saucepan melt butter then sprinkle flour over butter and stir until smooth. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Slowly add milk ensuring to whisk to prevent lumps. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper. When thickened, about 2 minutes, remove from heat and very slowly add a bit of the sauce into beaten egg to prevent cooking the egg.  Add egg mixture to the rest of the sauce.

Assembly:

Grease a 9 x 12 baking dish. Arrange one layer of roasted eggplant then spoon on half the turkey mixture over top. Spoon on a layer of the ricotta cheese then another layer of eggplant on top.  Add a layer of the remaining turkey sauce. If you have enough roasted eggplant, place another layer down. Couver with béchamel sauce and sprinkle cheeses over top. Bake at 350F for 50 – 60 minutes until top is golden brown.

Let sit for 10 minutes before cutting into servings.

Enjoy this delicious, healthy comfort food with either Singletree Gruner Veltliner or Pinot Noir.