Vegetarian Recipes

Green Harissa Grilled Cheese

https://www.loveandlemons.com/grilled-cheese/

Do you ever have days when you just need a grilled cheese sandwich? This green harissa grilled cheese recipe is what I make when nothing but a grilled cheese will do. It has all the essentials of a good grilled cheese sandwich – crunchy, toasty bread and gooey cheese – but a handful of spinach and a slather of green harissa add an extra dimension of freshness and flavor. It’s lightly spicy and totally delicious – hands down the best grilled cheese I’ve had!

The green harissa is really the star of the show here. Made with charred peppers, garlic, lemon, spices, cilantro, pepitas, and olive oil, it has a similar texture to pesto and a delicious spiced flavor. It’s easy to make in the food processor, and it really jazzes up this classic comfort food. I hope you love it as much as I do!

How to Make Grilled Cheese

A basic grilled cheese requires just 3 ingredients:

Sliced bread – Sourdough is my favorite!
Cheese – I like Havarti.
Butter or olive oil – As usual, extra-virgin olive oil is my pick.

I love to dress up this classic combo with green harissa and spinach, but really, when it comes to grilled cheese, your filling options are endless. Swap in your favorite cheese, and skip the harissa if you like. A slather of chipotle sauce or pesto would be great in its place. If you’re not in the mood for spinach, leave it out, or add some thin tomato or pepper slices, roasted red peppers, or arugula instead.

Once you’ve assembled your ingredients, it’s time to cook! If you’re using it, slather the harissa onto a slice of bread and add some spinach and a thick layer of grated cheese. Top with the remaining slice of bread, drizzle with olive oil (or spread with butter), and grill your sandwich on both sides until the bread becomes golden brown and the cheese melts.

Serve with tomato soup or gazpacho, and enjoy!

My Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich Tips

Want to make the best grilled cheese sandwich you’ve ever had? Just follow these easy tips!

Better ingredients = a better sandwich. As with all simple recipes, the better your ingredients are, the better your grilled cheese will be. I like mine with sourdough bread and Havarti or sharp cheddar cheese.
Use a good melting cheese. Because higher-moisture cheeses yield the best oozy, pull-apart sandwiches, steer clear of crumbly, hard cheeses like Parmesan or manchego. I use Havarti here (Roth Cheese is a favorite), but gruyere, gouda, provolone, mozzarella, and cheddar are all great choices for a grilled cheese sandwich.
Cover for even cooking. If your bread is browning faster than your cheese is melting, reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. The trapped heat will help melt the cheese before the bread gets too brown.
Toast both sides of the bread. This step isn’t entirely necessary, but it’s totally worth it. Before you add your fillings, get the inside face of your bread a little toasty in the pan. Then, load it up and grill on the outside, flipping halfway. Your bread will have a crave-worthy crunch that’s a perfect contrast to the creamy, cheesy middle.

For a more traditional (red) harissa recipe, check out page 281 in my new cookbook, Love & Lemons Every Day. This zippy green version is very different, but just as delicious! If you have extra harissa after making this recipe, it’s yummy scooped onto tacos, avocado toast, grilled veggies, pizza slices, falafel flatbread, and especially these shawarma wraps.

If you love this grilled cheese recipe…

Try my egg salad sandwich, vegan club sandwich, or meatball sandwich next!

Green Harissa Grilled Cheese

Author: Jeanine Donofrio

Recipe type: main course

2 green Anaheim peppers (or 1 poblano)
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon honey or maple syrup
¾ cup cilantro
¼ cup pepitas
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper

8 sourdough bread slices
A few handfuls of spinach leaves
2 to 3 cups grated havarti cheese
Extra-virgin oil, for grilling

Make the green harissa. Char the peppers over a gas burner or under a broiler until the skin is blackened all over. Remove from the heat and place in a bowl and cover with a towel or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. Slice off the stem and place the peppers, garlic, lemon juice, cumin, coriander, salt, honey, cilantro, pepitas and a few grinds of black pepper into a food processor and pulse until combined. Drizzle in the olive oil and process until smooth.
Make the grilled cheese. Slather the green harissa on the insides of each slice of bread. Assemble with spinach leaves and cheese. Pre-heat a cast iron skillet or grill pan over medium heat. Brush the outsides of the sandwich with olive oil and grill on each side until the cheese is melted.

Cheesy Vegetarian

Easy Vegetable Moussaka Casserole

Just like vegetable lasagne, vegetarian moussaka is one of those dishes that I adore, but I rarely cook for myself, because it always seems like such a huge effort. Cooking lentils, boiling potatoes, grilling slices of eggplant, simmering tomato sauce… the vast majority of the time, I really, truly can not be bothered.

That’s why this vegetable moussaka casserole is such a revelation! It’s a casserole-style version of my favourite veggie moussaka, which tastes just the same, but is so much less effort to make! Just stick everything in a baking dish and let it do its thing, casserole-style.

A spoon taking a scoop from a baking dish of cheesy moussaka casserole.

This moussaka casserole has two sections:

a tasty tomatoey layer underneath, made with all the usual ingredients you’d expect to find in a vegetable moussaka – tender lentils, melt-in-your-mouth eggplant and roasted potatoes, cooked in a rich tomato sauce
a thick layer of creamy bechamel sauce on top

As you scoop into the casserole, the creamy sauce drips down and smothers the tomatoey layer. It. Is. Delicious.

How is this Easier than a Regular Vegetarian Moussaka?

I’m not going to lie, this vegetable moussaka casserole takes quite a long time to bake, and the ingredients list is a fair bit longer than the majority of my easy recipes.

However, I stand by the fact that this is so much easier to make than most moussaka recipes. Although it takes a while to cook, it’s almost all hands-off time, where you can go and relax / do some other useful jobs / play with your kids / whatever else you like to do with your life.

Vegetarian moussaka casserole topped with sliced tomato.

This vegetarian moussaka casserole is easy to make because:

using canned lentils mean there’s no boiling required.
the vegetables are roasted in the oven, rather than the more hands-on method of cooking them on the stovetop.
there’s no fiddly layering of sliced ingredients – it’s all baked up together.
even the tomatoey sauce is cooked right there in the oven with the other ingredients.

It’s definitely not a quick weeknight dinner, but if you’re at home over the weekend, it’s the perfect dish to have baking in the oven while you’re busy with other things.

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Overhead shot of a cheesy topped moussaka casserole with sliced tomatoes.

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

potatoes
eggplant (aubergine)
canned lentils (mine were green lentils)
onion – I only used half an onion (a small onion would also work!)
canned tomatoes
tomato paste
garlic – I used pre-minced garlic from a jar (my favourite time-saving ingredient!)
dried herbs – mint and oregano. I very rarely use dried mint but trust me, it tastes amazing in moussaka! Not a hint of toothpaste, I promise.
tomato – to slice up for the topping
milk, flour and butter – for the creamy white sauce. You can add a pinch of nutmeg to it as well, if you like.

Becca’s Top Tip

I used the same baking dish to roast up my vegetables, and then to cook the casserole itself. If you’ve got a little less time on your hands, the veggies will actually roast a little quicker if you spread them out on a baking tray – but I wanted to save on dishes to wash! I love a one pot meal.

Recipe Video

Overhead shot of a portion of vegetable moussaka with salad.

Printable Instructions

Vegetable Moussaka Casserole

This vegetable moussaka casserole is a much easier version of a vegetarian moussaka – but is just as tasty, with a luxurious creamy topping!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Greek, Middle Eastern, Turkish

Diet Vegetarian

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 1 35

Total Time 2

Servings

Calories 523kcal

Author Becca Heyes

Ingredients

For the lentil layer:

1 medium eggplant (aubergine) (~ 250g / ~ 9 oz)
~ 500g (~ 1 lb) potatoes
1 medium onion (or 1/2 large onion)
2 Tbsp oil
400 g tinned lentils, drained (240g, or ~ 1 1/4 cups, when drained)
400 g tin (~ 1 1/3 cups) chopped tomatoes
1 Tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried mint
1/2 tsp dried oregano

For the topping:

60 g (~ 2 oz) butter
60 g (~ 2 oz) plain flour
500 ml (~ 2 cups) milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 large tomato, sliced

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F).
Cut the eggplant, potatoes and onion into 2cm dice (I didn’t bother peeling the potatoes). Toss them in a little oil, and add to a baking dish – mine measured approx. 8 x 8 inches.
Roast the vegetables in the centre of the oven for around 50 minutes, stirring once or twice during cooking, or until the vegetables are fairly soft (the potatoes might still be a bit al dente). If you decide to spread the vegetables out onto a baking tray instead of using the dish, they will cook more quickly.
Add the tinned lentils, tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, garlic, and dried herbs, and mix well to combine.
Return to the oven for a further 30 minutes, until the tomatoes have thickened up into a rich sauce. Mix well.
To make the béchamel topping, melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium-low heat, and add the flour. Mix to create a thick paste (a roux), and cook for a minute or so, stirring constantly. Add the milk a little at a time, stirring until smooth each time before adding more milk. Season to taste with salt. If you need more detailed instructions, check out my white sauce recipe.
Pour the béchamel sauce over the lentil mixture, and top with a few slices of tomato.
Return to the oven for a final 25 minutes, or until the topping is lightly browned.
Allow to stand for a few minutes, then serve.

Nutrition

Recipe FAQs

Can I prepare moussaka in advance?

Absolutely! The casserole can either be cooked entirely and then reheated when needed, or you can assemble it, then do the final bake just before serving.

Can I freeze leftover moussaka?

Moussaka is perfect for batch cooking – just transfer any leftovers to a freezer-safe tub, and freeze. Reheat thoroughly in the microwave.