Eggplant Lasagna
When I am in the mood for comfort food, I can’t think of anything more satisfying than Eggplant Lasagna. Cutting into layers of tender pasta, gooey melted cheese, eggplant, tomato sauce, more cheese. . . Ummmm. Making my own mouth water. 🙂 The thing about a good Lasagna is letting it sit for a few minutes after removing it from the oven so it can firm up. Who can ever wait though? When I make Lasagna, we are generally gathered around the oven watching it get golden and delicious! If this is too much Lasagna for your family, you can always freeze half and just reheat in the oven at a later date. We personally like it even more the next day so we get two meals out of one dish! Serve this yummy dish with a nice salad and garlic bread if you like! Hope you enjoy! Afiyet olsun!
- 3 Eggplants
- Salt
- ¼ (+/-) Cup Olive Oil, for frying eggplant
- 2-3 Tablespoons Olive Oil for sauce
- 1 Medium Onion
- 1 Pound Tomatoes, roughly chopped
- ½ Cup Carrots, Shredded
- 3 Cloves Garlic
- (3) 8oz Cans Tomato Sauce
- ¼ Cup Parsley Chopped
- 16 oz Water
- 1½ Teaspoons Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning
- I Package Barilla Oven Ready Lasagna (or your favorite brand)
- 8 oz Mozzarella, shredded
- 6 oz Garlic and Herb Goat Cheese, Plain Goat Cheese or a mixture of both (I used both ;-))
- 3 oz Parmesan, shredded
- Peel the eggplant in strips lengthwise. Trim the end.
- Cut into 1 inch circles. Place in a large bowl and sprinkle with salt. Cover with water and let soak while you make the sauce. This will remove any bitterness the eggplant may have.
- Saute the chopped onion in Olive Oil. Add in the carrots and garlic and saute 3-4 minutes.
- Chop the tomatoes and add to the saucepan.
- Add in the tomato sauce and water. Stir well and cook on medium-low about 15 minutes (while you are cooking the eggplant).
- Pour the water off the eggplant rinse with cold water to remove excess salt. Place in a colander to drain excess water.
- Heat enough oil in the bottom of a pan to cook the eggplant. I use a cast iron pan because it holds the heat better to fry them evenly.
- Pat the eggplant slices with a paper towel then place in the hot oil and cook on each side about 3-5 minutes each until golden brown.
- Drain on paper towels.
- Pre-heat oven to 350.
- Cover the bottom of your baking dish with tomato sauce.
- Arrange a layer of lasagna noodles over the sauce.
- Place the eggplant over the noodles.
- Top with drops of the goat cheese and sprinkle with some of the shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Repeat this process two times with the remaining sauce, noodles, eggplant and cheeses.
- Make sure your top layer is noodles, sauce and then mozzarella.
- Grate the Parmesan cheese over the top. Make an aluminum foil tent and place loosely over the top so it doesn't touch the cheese. Bake for 45 minutes.
- Let cool 15 minutes so it will be easier to cut. Afiyet olsun!
