Vegan Lentil Moussaka

Preparation

• 1
  Peel the potatoes and cook them in a pot with salted water for about 20 minutes or until you can easily insert a fork. Drain the water and let the potatoes cool. At the same time as the potatoes, place the lentils in a second pot with double the amount of water, bring the water to a boil once, then cover and simmer for about 20 minutes. Only salt the lentils after cooking.
• 2
  Cut the eggplants into slices about 1 cm thick, spread them on a baking sheet, and salt them. Let the slices rest for 10 minutes, then pat them dry on both sides with kitchen paper. In a large pan, fry the eggplant slices in oil until golden brown on both sides. Then remove the slices from the pan and let them drain on kitchen paper.
• 3
  Cut the tomatoes into thick slices. Peel and finely dice the onion and garlic cloves. Slice the cooked potatoes.
• 4
  For the “minced meat” (lentil mixture), heat some oil in a large pan and sauté the onion and garlic. Add the sunflower seeds and continue frying for a few minutes. Add tomato paste, maple syrup, dried oregano, thyme, marjoram, and cinnamon. Deglaze with vegan red wine and simmer for about 3 minutes.
• 5
  Add the vegetable broth, chopped tomatoes, and lentils and simmer for another 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• 6
  Preheat the oven to 180°C.
• 7
  For the béchamel sauce, blend soaked cashews, plant-based milk, miso paste, and nutritional yeast in a blender until smooth. In a pot, melt butter and stir in the flour. Add the cashew mixture and stir well to prevent the sauce from clumping. Then season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
• 8
  Grease a baking dish with olive oil and arrange the potato slices in it. Now layer half of the eggplant slices on top, spread the lentils over them, and cover with the remaining eggplant and tomato slices. Finally, spread the béchamel sauce over everything and bake at 180°C for 30 minutes.