Are you a fan of Greek pastitsio or mousaka? Can you just pick one? But, hey, wait a minute. Why do you have to choose if you can combine both in one dish? What dish? Oven baked pasta with eggplant and béchamel.
It is difficult to find a person who does not love pastitsio. But there are also these summer days that you can not resist a well-baked moussaka. But on the other hand there is the pastitsio. What a confusion! So I was a bit confused too. And through this confusion the current recipe was born. I can say with confidence that it was one of the most lovely confusions I have found myself in, as one of my easiest and most delicious recipes full of umami was born.
WHERE DOES THE PRESCRIPTION MAKE UMAMI?
Are you familiar with umami? Umami is a ripe tomato you will eat in the summer. It is a spring brunch with eggs and asparagus. Or an autumn dish of roasted mushrooms. Umami is a hot winter beef soup. In a word, however, umami is the taste.
Umami was discovered by the Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda in 1908, but it was not until 2000 that it was scientifically established that umami flavors were perceived by our taste buds thanks to the glutamic acid contained in many foods. Food such as ripe tomato, shells, ham, mushrooms, spinach but also the fermentation and aging products such as cheese.
So, umami is the 5th basic taste after sour, sweet, bitter and salty. A taste that you will find in this particular recipe because of miso. Miso is one of the most delicious, versatile spices in the world and is the absolute synonym of umami flavor. In addition, I chose miso because combining it with eggplant, miso gives to the eggplant a more meaty flavor.
An easy to make béchamel
In the intro of my post I mentioned that one of the characteristics of the recipe, apart from its awesome taste, is the fact that it is an easy to make recipe. And you may be wondering how a recipe including béchamel is easy to make. That is because of the Easy Bake mixtures created by Saint George Mills. For making this velvety béchamel you just add the mixture together with milk to a stand mixer and you focus on the rest of the recipe. Carefree, without stress and much effort.
So I once again chose to use in my recipe an excellent product from the Easy Bake mixtures. I focused on highlighting another side of the eggplant and Saint George Mills undertook to give me a velvety, full of flavor béchamel. And all this with respect for the environment, as the mixtures of the series really stand out as apart from the fact that the mixture does not contain pigments, they do not contain palm oil.
Oven baked pasta with eggplant and béchamel
Ingredients
- 70 ml olive oil
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 4 eggplants, cut into cubes
- 2 tbsp miso paste
- 3-4 tbsp tomato paste, dilluted with water
- 2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
- 500 gr pasta
- 100 gr Mozzarella, grated
- 100 gr gruyere
- salt
- freshly ground pepper
For the béchamel
- 2 saches Easy Bake béchamel
- 1 lt milk
- 70 gr gruyere
- 2 tbsp butter
Instructions
- In a large saucepan add about 5 liters of water and bring to a boil. Once the water boils, add 2 tbsp. salt and after 1 minute the pasta. Boil the pasta according to the instructions on the package, minus 2 minutes.
- In a large pan, over medium heat, add the olive oil and sauté the onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes. Then add the eggplants and stir. Cook for about 5 minutes, until softened.
- Add the miso paste and mix well.
- Finally, add the tomato paste diluted with a little water and mix. Cook for 2-3 minutes and add the parsley. Stir and set aside.
For the béchamel
- Add the mixture in the bowl of a stand mixer and add the milk. Beat immediately on maximum speed.
- Add the grated gruyere to the bowl of the mixer and stir by using a wooden sppon. Set aside.
To assemble
- Grease a 35 * 25 cm baking pan. Add the boiled pasta and cheese. Mix well.
- Spread the eggplants on top and then the béchamel.
- Add 2-3 small pieces of butter and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 30-35 minutes.
So that was my suggestion for your summer lunches, a recipe that will end the pasticcio VS moussaka battle. Oven baked pasta with eggplant and béchamel. Delicious dish, amazing taste and easy to make. This summer will become your favorite.
I would be thrilled to hear from you. Even more, if you make my recipe and post a photo of it. Just don’t forget to share your photo under the hashtag #tetisflakes. Please do not hesitate to comment below or contact me on Instagram, or Facebook or Twitter!
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The recipe sounds delicious! I love the idea of highlighting a different side of eggplant. It also seems like you are doing your best to make sure that this is an environmentally conscious dish by not using palm oil, which isn’t great for the environment.
I am so glad that you like my recipe! Environmental protection is always a priority for me!
Thank you 🙏