I love to cook and was over the moon my nephew (Greg/GP Henry) was in town to help. Everyone loves lasagna, but this dish is stacked with calories and carbs. After quite a bit of research, I found a recipe worth tweaking a bit which substituted eggplant for pasta. Let’s do this!
Ingredients
- 2 medium eggplants
- 1 (15 ounces) container ricotta cheese*
- 1 cup chopped spinach leaves
- 1 – 2 cups diced mushrooms
- 1 large egg
- 10-12 fresh basil leaves, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (I prefer to shred my own cheese)
- 1 (15 ounces) can tomato sauce*
- Sea Salt & Ground Black Pepper to taste
Directions:
There are 3 things that need to happen before whipping this meal together. Feel free to choose whatever order you want or multitask if you think you can handle it.
1. EGGPLANT: Preheat the oven to 425°F. Chop the top and bottom ends off, and slice into 6-8 pieces lengthwise. Lay slices on cookie sheet and generously sprinkle with salt. Set aside for about 15 minutes or until the slices start to “sweat”.
Rinse the eggplant slices well, and pat dry with a paper towel. Arrange in a single layer on a cookie sheet, and generously spray with cooking oil. Flip the slices, and add oil to the other side. Bake for about 12 minutes or until slices are just beginning to get slightly browned. Remove from the oven and set a side to cool.
2. MUSHROOMS: Dice shrooms and sauté with EVOO until they’re no longer firm. Drain.
3. FILLING: Combine ricotta, spinach, egg, basil, garlic, shrooms and 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese together in a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and stir to combine.
When the eggplant slices are cool enough to handle, you’re ready whip everything together. Spread 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce evenly along the bottom of a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish.
Take a slice of eggplant, and add about 2-3 tablespoons of filling to the center of the slice.
Roll into a burrito shape so that the two ends fold over each other, and place end side down into the baking dish. Repeat.
Spoon the rest of the tomato sauce along the tops of the eggplant rolls in your pan. Top evenly with the rest of your mozzarella cheese.
Bake for 20-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce in the bottom of the pan is bubbly.
* Substitutions:
- Substitute pureed garlic and & cauliflower for ricotta cheese. CLICK HERE to learn how.
- Make your own tomato sauce. I’ve yet to do this step, but feel confident it will cut back on unnecessary sugar.
Hope you enjoy yet another lasagna recipe. We’re always looking for healthier options to the traditional meal so please leave a comment or shoot us a message if you have input.