#tag your Vegan friends as this is mega!!

Chunky slices of carrots and sweet potatoes layered with aubergines, courgette, spinach, tomato sauce and Béchamel. Very, very tasty, hearty and healthy.
Not only is this Vegan, it is also lactose & gluten free!

• 1 aubergine sliced
• 1 courgette sliced
• 2 carrots peeled
• 1 sweet potato peeled
• 150g spinach
• Tomato Sauce
• 1 red onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic
• Fresh herbs 50g: thyme, mint, oregano- I used more mint than the others
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 50ml red wine
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tin plum tomatoes
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 100g mushrooms, sliced
• Béchamel Sauce
• 400g butternut squash, peeled and diced
• Grated nutmeg
• 200ml coconut milk
• Salt/pepper
• Optional vegan cheese.

• Chuck the potato and carrots in a pan of salted water and par boil. Slice thickly, set aside.
• Season & lightly fry the aubergine and courgette in batches, in olive oil. Set aside.
• Tomato sauce: fry the red onion, garlic cloves whole, herbs whole, in olive oil until soft. Stick in a blender with the puree, balsamic vinegar, cinnamon, both paprika’s and blend until smooth. Scrape back into pan and turn up the heat, pour in the wine and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the plum tomatoes and mushrooms, and the sugar. Season well & stir. Let this reduce to be a thick sauce.
• Béchamel Sauce; boil the butternut squash until soft. Blend with the coconut milk and nutmeg, season well. I used a smoothy maker and it created a thick sauce.
• Layer up the moussaka;
  start with the aubergine, then courgette, evenly spread over the carrots, then a layer of spinach. Pour over half of the tomato sauce then add the potato layer. Finally pour over the rest of the tomato. Then pour the Béchamel Sauce over and spread. Sprinkle with vegan cheese if using.
• Cook at 180/200 degrees for around 30 minutes.
• Once this is cooked remove from the oven and let it sit for about 15 minutes otherwise it will have too much liquid.