Vegetarian moussaka with walnut, mushroom, and fennel base and Parmesan sauce

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 2 eggplant(s)
• 8 potatoes approximately equal in weight to the eggplant(s)
• olive oil
• 10 walnuts
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 7 mushrooms, brown
• 1 carrot(s) (the red variety is especially delicious)
• ½ bell pepper(s), yellow
• ½ red bell pepper(s)
• 1 small fennel
• ¼ stalk(s) leek
• 2 onions, red or shallots in equivalent quantity
• 4 cloves garlic
• 3 tomatoes
• 1 can of tomatoes in juice (peeled, whole tomatoes)
• 2 bay leaves
• 70 g butter
• 350 ml milk
• 2 tbsp wheat flour type 405 or 550
• 100 g hard cheese, freshly grated, rennet-free
• e.g. nutmeg
• e.g. Paprika powder, hot
• e.g. chili powder
• n. B. Salt
• e.g. oregano, thyme and rosemary, dried
• 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 pinch(s) of sugar
• 3 tbsp breadcrumbs

Instructions

Working time approx. 3 hours; Rest time approx. 5 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 35 minutes; Total time approx. 3 hours 40 minutes

complex but very tasty recipe, especially for vegetarians

The night before, remove the walnuts from their shells and soak them in plenty of water with the soy sauce. The next day, drain the walnuts and discard the soaking water. Drain the walnuts on kitchen paper and chop them in a food processor until they almost resemble a puree; small pieces should remain. Clean the fennel, mushrooms, and carrot, peel the carrot, and cut all three vegetables into small pieces; chop these one after the other very finely in the food processor. Preheat the oven to 50 degrees Celsius. Line an oven rack with baking paper; spread the walnut mixture on it, as well as the mushroom, fennel, and carrot mixtures. Let it dry in the oven for about 30-40 minutes. In the meantime, cut the eggplants into 2 mm thick slices, season with salt, and let it rest for about 30 minutes. After this time, thoroughly pat off any juices with kitchen paper. Peel and wash the potatoes and cut them into 2 mm thick slices; Place the potato slices in a bowl filled with water to extract the starch. Peel the onions and three cloves of garlic and dice them into very small, very fine cubes. Clean the tomatoes, remove the stems, and cut them into eighths. Clean the pepper halves, remove the stems, and cut them into small cubes and set aside. Remove the outer leaves from the leek, cut it in half lengthwise, and cut both halves into thin slices. Heat a pan with olive oil and fry the vegetable and nut mixture from the baking tray in the olive oil until everything starts to brown. Add the garlic and onions and fry. Stir in the rosemary and oregano. Add the leek and peppers, then the quartered fresh tomatoes, and finally the canned tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper, chili, paprika, cinnamon, and a pinch of sugar. Add the bay leaves to the mixture, stir, and simmer until there is hardly any liquid left. Then remove the bay leaves and season the mixture with salt, pepper, and any other spices mentioned above, and set aside. Drain the potato slices and let them drain on kitchen paper. In a second pan, heat olive oil, fry the dried eggplant slices in batches for about 1 minute on each side, then remove from the pan and let them drain on kitchen paper. Then add more oil to the pan and add the potato slices in batches, making sure they are not overlapping. Fry for about 5 minutes on one side until they begin to brown, then turn and season with salt and pepper. When the potatoes are lightly browned on both sides, remove them and let them drain on kitchen paper. In another saucepan, melt the butter (be careful, butter browns quickly!) and sprinkle the flour into the butter. Stir with a whisk and gradually add the milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Bring to a boil while stirring until a thick sauce forms; Depending on the consistency, add more milk if necessary and continue stirring. Stir 3/4 of the Parmesan cheese into the sauce, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg, and stir in a small pinch of sugar if desired. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Rub a wide baking dish with olive oil and the fourth clove of garlic. First, place a layer of potatoes in the baking dish, then spread half of the vegetable and walnut mixture over the potatoes, layer the eggplant on top, then spread half of the Parmesan sauce on top, and spoon a tablespoon of the remaining cheese over the Parmesan sauce. Repeat this process once. Finally, sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the casserole. Place the casserole in the preheated oven and bake for 30-40 minutes. Remove the casserole from the oven, let it rest for five minutes, then slice and enjoy.