Made this tonight, turned out great. I used tomatoes, peppers and garlic from my garden. Everyone but the kid loved it and I the kid didn't so much not like it as she just wasn't eating tonight (not uncommon, she is a puny punk). In the comments below people seemed concerned about the eggplant seeds. I wouldn't sweat it, seeds want to get out of the flesh on most plants, eggplants are no different. You won't notice the seeds you miss processing the eggplant. I peeled the tomatoes and minced the garlic instead of grating it. Thanks for the post, your recipe was easy to follow and I enjoyed it a lot.
Awesome! Thanks for letting me know; I'm really glad that something I shared turned out well for someone else (and that my instructions weren't fucked). Sorry to hear that it didn't break the kid barrier, but you've mentioned that your daughter doesn't have much of an appetite sometimes and I guess this isn't exactly the kid friendliest dish. How did you find the recipe in terms of effort? I know there are a bunch of steps and it looks kind of technical, but I didn't think that it was too bad.
It's time consuming. If you aren't comfortable in the kitchen it might be a hard recipe (raw meat, strange vegetable processing and a roux). I have years of prep cooking and line cooking to back me up, so it wasn't a challenge. I've read hundred's of recipes, yours was way more comprehensive than all but a few really specialized recipes that I've seen. Your pictures and explanations would make this the kind of more complex recipe that a novice cook could hope to have a go at, stuff like explaining the ins and outs of a roux. We ended up with enough to feed three adults and a kid. Think if I made it again I'd double up the portions so as to have leftovers. I've never seen a bechamel combined with a vegetable like that and I'd be curious to find other recipes that are like it, I found it really satisfying.