Cheat's Moussaka

Here's another good hearty winter dinner recipe I picked up from this month's Real Living - Cheat's Moussaka. 

 via Real Living

My darling Yiayia would turn in her grave if she knew I was taking shortcuts making Moussaka - but hey if it means I can eat it more often I figure its worth it.

The "cheat" is that the bechamel sauce is actually made up of greek yoghurt, fetta cheese and egg.

I love me some fetta but I have to admit I was hesitant to how this would turn out.

Here's my lamb mince and sauce simmering away.

And to cut down the washing up I used the same pan for the eggplants.

The layering begins..

And here's the yoghurt/fetta sauce on the top layer with a sprinkle of parmesan.

And 30 minutes later - Hello golden brown deliciousness!

It was pretty tasty - definitely not as creamy as a true bechamel but certainly way quicker to make. I guess the yoghurt/fetta combo could possibly be more healthy also - but its probably a slighly more expensive option too.

Skye Gyngell's Lamb and chickpeas

Sunday nights are a good time to try new recipes - I've got a little more time and a little more patience than I do on weekdays.

I've really enjoyed Skye Gyngell's How I cook - its a lovely collection of simple recipes and the photography is so soft and warm.

Even though the temperature has only dropped a few degrees, I've been yearning to break out the slow cooker. So I chose this delicious recipe for Shoulder of Lamb with Sweet Paprika and Chickpeas.

I didn't have eight hours to let the slow cooker to work its magic, so out came the Le Creuset. It had the advantage of being able to brown the lamb on the cooktop and then go straight into the oven. (I had to replace the lamb shoulder for forequarter chops.)

Only two hours later the meat was coming away from the bones and the kitchen smelled amazing (I'd also replaced sweet paprika with smoked paprika - which I figured was a fair trade despite it being in the title of the recipe..)

I'd also replaced Skye's pretty wilted chard with some cous cous, which I'll admit isn't as aesthetically pleasing but hey a girl needs carbs.

I'm glad it held up to all my tinkering - it was easy enough, only used one pot and even tasted amazing for lunch the next day.