Lasagna: Eggplant Style

Lasagna is one of Scott's absolute favorite foods.  I'm a pretty big fan too.  I haven't made it in ages though because for a long time Belle did not tolerate me consuming dairy (such sadness for me).  So now that she seems to care less what I eat (bring on the ice cream!!!!), I embarked on making a gluten-free lasagna.

I went to Whole Foods with high hopes of finding a selection of gluten-free lasagna noodles to choose from.  There was one box.  They were made primarily from corn.  They were mini lasagna noodles.  And they were $8.00.  So I passed on the genetically-modified, gummy textured, overpriced noodles and hit up the produce department instead.

So here is my favorite lasagna recipe made with roasted eggplant slices in place of lasagna noodles.  I like it even better than the original.

Ingredients

2 medium-sized eggplants
olive oil
sea salt
pepper

1 lbs. Italian sausage or ground beef
1 onion
2 cans tomato paste
14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
2 cups stock (beef, chicken, or veggie - go homemade if you can)
1 T oregano
1 T garlic powder
2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 T honey

12 oz. ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan
1 egg

Mozzarella cheese

Slice your eggplant into disks.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

 before

after - yum

Brown the sausage/beef and onion in a large pot. 

When it is cooked through, add your tomato products, stock, seasonings, and honey.  Let simmer for 1 hour.  Don't skimp on this part.  It makes the sauce more yummy if you let it go for a while. 

When it's about done, combine your ricotta/cottage cheese, Parmesan, and egg.  Blend until smooth.

Then start layering: 

Sauce

Eggplant

Sauce

Mozzarella

Eggplant

Sauce

Ricotta mixture

Eggplant

Sauce

Bake 30 minutes at 350.  Top with more mozzarella, then bake 15 minutes more.

Note to self: use a larger baking dish next time.