Cauliflower Moussaka Recipe

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Cauliflower can be cooked in many different ways. It can be steamed, roasted, fried and can end up replacing meat, rice, chicken and more. Plus it is a healthy plant and deserves to take a closer look. Try this Cauliflower Moussaka to discover another way to have and enjoy cauliflower.

What is moussaka / musakka / moussakka?

All of these are different spellings of a dish based on slicing vegetables and cooking them with minced meat and onions. Musakka is the Turkish spelling, moussaka is the French version which is also used in English, moussakka is just a wrong spelling.

The word originates from Arabic and means watery dish. There is an endless fight about the nationality of moussaka, let us just say it belongs to the Levant as it is still popular in the Levant geography. Records prove that moussaka has been cooked in the Ottoman Palace since the 15th century.

There are several types of moussaka; the most popular one is eggplant moussaka, then follows zucchini moussaka, cauliflower moussaka and potato moussaka.

How to make cauliflower moussaka?

• Start separating the cauliflower into florets. Make them small bite-sized florets. You can save the stems for preparing another dish such as a pizza or a tabouleh.
• Then boil or steam the florets with lemony and salty water. Do not cook too much, save some of the crunchiness of the cauliflower as they will be baked too. Keep in mind that you can eat cauliflower even when raw.
• Meanwhile, chop an onion and several garlic cloves. Sauté the onions first with olive oil.
• When the onions start caramelizing add the ground meat. You can choose to use lamb, beef or a mixture of these.
• Spice the meat with salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes and cumin.
• Cook until the meat first leaves off and then absorbs back its own water.
• Then add a tablespoon of tomato paste and mix until fragrant.
• Then add a chopped carrot, a tomato and a cubed pepper.
• If the tomato is not watery enough add some warm water to cover the bottom of the pot and cook for 10 minutes, lid covered.

• Pour the cauliflower on to a baking dish.
• Add on top the meat mixture.
• Cook for 20 minutes at 190° Celsius (375° F) until slightly browned on the top.
• Add grated mozzarella cheese or Turkish kasar on top if desired in the last 5 minutes. You will notice that I did add on half of the baking tray.
• Garnish with chopped parsley and serve while still warm.

You might be wondering where is the béchamel sauce on top. Authentic Turkish style moussaka does not require the béchamel sauce on top and I prefer it without too. This way the dish become dairy-free and with fewer calories. I prefer to leave the béchamel sauce to lasagna. Did you know that there is another discussion about which is first lasagna or moussaka. Unbelievable!

If you have liked this recipe, try the Authentic Turkish Style Eggplant Moussaka next time.

Print Pin

Cauliflower Moussaka Recipe

Delicious and hearty way to have cauliflower.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Turkish

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 6 servings

Calories 118kcal

Ingredients

Cooking the cauliflower

• 1 cauliflower medium
• ½ lemon's juice
• ½ salt

Cooking the meat

• 400 grams ground meat medium fat, beef and/or lamb
• 1 onion large
• 1 red pepper
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tomato
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon cumin

Instructions

• Start separating the cauliflower into small bite-sized florets. Then boil or steam the florets with lemony and salty water. Do not cook too much, save some of the crunchiness of the cauliflower as they will be baked too.
• Meanwhile, chop an onion and 2 garlic cloves. Sauté the onions first with olive oil.
• When the onions start caramelizing add the ground meat. Spice the meat with salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes and cumin. Cook until the meat first leaves off and then absorbs back its own water.
• Then add a tablespoon of tomato paste and mix until fragrant.
• Then add a chopped carrot, a tomato and a cubed pepper. If the tomato is not watery enough add some warm water to cover the bottom of the pot and cook for 10 minutes, lid covered.
• Pour the cauliflower on to a baking dish. Add on top the meat mixture.
• Cook for 20 minutes at 190° Celsius (375° F) until slightly browned on the top.
• Add grated mozzarella cheese or Turkish kasar on top if desired in the last 5 minutes.
• Garnish with chopped parsley and serve while still warm.

Notes

You can save the cauliflower stems for preparing another dish.

You can choose to use lamb, beef or a mixture of these for the meat. Consider adding a bay leaf if using lamb. 

Cheese is optional if adding sprinkle on top of the moussaka in the last 5 minutes of baking.

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