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We've gotten a few eggplants through our CSA and I really wanted to do something yummy with ours. I made eggplant Parmesan lasagna! It turned out so, so good and the family loved it! I can't wait to eat it again for lunch today. I totally forgot to take a picture but you can just use your imagination, right? Imagine a casserole dish with hot, gooey, mozzarella (slightly browned) on top of pan fried eggplant, noodles, and more cheese. I hope you enjoy!! Recipe adapted from one found on bigoven.com
26 oz pasta sauce (I used homemade but you can use two jars of ready made, if you like
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (I used a little extra because I like it).
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper (again a little more)
1/2 cup whipping cream (I told Alexander that there was whipped cream in our dinner. This made him very keen to try it!!)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 large eggplant (about 1 1/2 lb.); (I used two smaller ones and it worked out great)
Salt and Pepper
3 large eggs lightly beaten
3 tablespoons water
1 cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons olive oil
6 lasagna noodles cooked and drained
1 (15-oz.) container part-skim ricotta cheese
2 cups Mozzarella cheese (8 oz.) shredded
26 oz pasta sauce (I used homemade but you can use two jars of ready made, if you like
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (I used a little extra because I like it).
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper (again a little more)
1/2 cup whipping cream (I told Alexander that there was whipped cream in our dinner. This made him very keen to try it!!)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 large eggplant (about 1 1/2 lb.); (I used two smaller ones and it worked out great)
Salt and Pepper
3 large eggs lightly beaten
3 tablespoons water
1 cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons olive oil
6 lasagna noodles cooked and drained
1 (15-oz.) container part-skim ricotta cheese
2 cups Mozzarella cheese (8 oz.) shredded
1. Cook first pasta sauce, basil and red pepper over medium-low heat 30 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in cream and Parmesan cheese. Set aside.
2. While the pasta sauce is simmering, peel the eggplant (I used a potato peeler), and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Lay slices on a cookie sheet or waxed paper. Sprinkle slices evenly with salt and black pepper. Stir together eggs and 3 Tbsp. water. Dredge (here is a great explanation of dredging, in case you're new to cooking) to eggplant in flour; dip into egg mixture, and dredge again in flour, shaking to remove excess.
3. Cook eggplant, in single layers, in 1 1/2 Tbsp. hot oil in a skillet over medium-high heat 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown and slightly softened. Drain on paper towels. (I had a hard time resisting a little nibble on this bad boys. Yum.) Repeat with remaining oil and eggplant, wiping skillet clean after each batch (I used an old tea towel that I got a little wet to wipe out the pan).
4. Layer 3 lasagna noodles lengthwise in a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Top with one-third tomato sauce mixture and half of eggplant. Dollop half of ricotta cheese evenly on eggplant in dish (my part skim ricotta didn't dollop so I had to spread it on the eggplant but it ended up tasting fabulous anyway); top with half of mozzarella. Repeat layers with remaining noodles, one-third sauce mixture, remaining eggplant, and remaining ricotta. Top with remaining one-third sauce mixture and mozzarella cheese.
5. Bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 20 minutes before serving. Feed to your family and smile a lot while they tell you how good this is!!
Bon appetite!
(P.S. I have been doing some sewing/crafting but am pretty busy with getting consignment sale stuff ready, and I'm getting ready to take a trip to Mexico with Charlotte and my dad. I'll be out of touch from Friday until the next Saturday but I promise to bring some great pictures back with me! Stay tuned when I return for photos of the Quiet book that I've been working on! And, check out my inspiration for some great Quiet book ideas:
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