Eggplant Lasagna–Printable Version

To view the full post of this recipe with photos and additional information, click here.

Eggplant Lasagna

Ingredients:

-1 medium-to large eggplant (or 2 small ones)

-Salt

-Either 1 jar store-bought spaghetti sauce OR the following: (1 large can diced tomatoes, 1 regular can tomato sauce, garlic, basil, oregano and marjoram to taste)

-1 cup (8 oz) cream cheese

-1 cup (8 oz) ricotta or cottage cheese

-2 cups mozzarella, divided

-1 egg (or 2 if using cottage cheese instead of ricotta)

-Garlic powder to taste

-Oregano to taste

-Nonstick cooking spray

Directions:

Begin by preheating oven to 350 degrees. Peel eggplant, chopping off ends. Using a sharp knife, cut the eggplant into the thinnest slices you can manage (1/4 inch thick is pretty standard). It’s okay if some of the slices tear or are small because you’ll find spots in the layers where they’ll fit in perfectly.

Place a wire cookie cooking rack over a cookie sheet and arrange the eggplant slices on the cookie sheet so most of every slice is exposed. It’s okay if there’s a little overlap, though.

Sprinkle the slices liberally with salt. This will help soak up any bitterness and leech it out of there. Pop the tray of eggplant in the oven for about 5-7 minutes and remove again.

Meanwhile, prepare sauce by either heating a jar of store-bought sauce or concoting your own. (If making your own, use 1 large can diced tomatoes and 1 regular can tomato sauce. I added garlic, basil, oregano and marjoram for mine.)

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, ricotta or cottage cheese, and half of the shredded mozzarella cheese (1 cup). Add garlic powder to taste and oregano if desired.

Crack an egg (or two) into the mixture and blend all ingredients until uniformly smooth. Set aside.

Spoon a small amount of tomato sauce into the bottom of a 9×13 glass baking dish. Lay the first layer of eggplant slices over the sauce.

Spoon tomato sauce evenly over the eggplant layer and then spread a thick layer of cheese mixture over the sauce.

Arrange a second eggplant layer over the cheese and spoon remaining tomato sauce over the top. Sprinkle about 1 cup shredded mozzarella on top of the whole thing, cover it with foil, and it’s ready for the oven.

Bake approximately one hour or until cheese is golden and bubbly. A good trick I use to keep the cheese from sticking to the aluminum foil is to spray the underside of the foil with a good shot of nonstick cooking spray before I cover the dish.

Remove from oven and allow 10-15 minutes to cool.