Wonderful Vegetarian Moussaka (Red Lentils & Aubergine)

Before I made this dish I had never actually tasted moussaka before, so it was quite a leap for me to make something I didn't really know much about. I knew some of the ingredients involved, and the fact that it was a Greek recipe, but other the that, not much. The idea came to me when I was flipping through my internet pages, looking for a recipe for the yogurt marinade I recently made. The sites came up with so many wonderfully Greek suggestions that I just had to try this one out.
I know moussaka isn't supposed to be vegetarian, but I couldn't find any lamb mince here in Poland, and I didn't have any other mince meat either, so I went for this option instead.

This makes for about 2-3 people, or delicious leftovers just for you.
This might take you some time to make, so put off about 1 hour to make.

Ingredients:

• 1 aubergine
• olive oil
• 50 g red lentils, cooked after packet instructions
• 1 red or yellow pepper, finely chopped
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, pressed/chopped
• 1 1/2 tbps tomato puree
• 1 can of chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (stick or ground)
• fresh parsley
• 100 g ricotta cheese
• 100 g greek yogurt
• ground nutmeg
• grated parmesan
• black, ground pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 180 C.
2. Cook your lentils as it is indicated on the packet.
3. Slice your aubergine into thin slices, put them in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix it well so that the vegetable is well covered and set aside.
4. Chop your onion, garlic and pepper.
5. In a hot frying pan, put in, preferably flat,the aubergines and let them fry on each side for about 3-4 minutes so they become golden brown. Put on some kitchen paper to soak off the olive oil.
6. Toss the garlic, onion and pepper to the frying pan with a little olive oil, let it fry until soft, for about 5 minutes.
7. Then add the tomato pure so that it covers the vegetables, and then add the chopped tomatoes and the cinnamon. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the lentils to the mix, turn down the heat, and let it all heat up together.
8. To make the "topping", whisk your ricotta, greek yogurt, nutmeg and salt and pepper together in a bowl. 
9. Take the vegetables off the heat and transfer to an ovenproof dish. Add the chopped parsley. Then add the mix you just made with the yogurt and cheese. Sprinkle some parmesan on top and pop in the oven for 30 minutes until the cheese turns golden brown. Serve while hot.

Bon Appétit!