Eggplant Parmesan Lasagna
September 19th, 2009
I had not made lasagna in a bunch of years, but wanted to do something a little bit different. As evidendced by our eggplant parm pizza recipe, we’re kind of fans of eggplant. I figured, if eggplant parmesan was good on its own or on pizza, it should work in lasagna as well. I still included some meat in the sauce, but this could easily be a vegetarian lasagna if you excluded the sauage. When I made this lasagna, as I had most times cooking lasagna in the past, I made some extra and froze it. I’d highly recomend this as a reheated lasagna really does taste nearly as good as a freshly made one.
Ingredients -
- Basic Tomato Sauce (recipe found <a href=”http://dinnerpartiesetc.com/?p=572″>here</a>)
- Italian Pork Sausage, Hot or Sweet depending on Taste
- Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
- Parmesan Cheese
- Ricotta Cheese
- Lasagna Noodles
- 1 Large Eggplant
- Italian Breadcrumbs
- All purpose flour
- 1 Egg
- Kosher salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper
Follow the basic recipe for the tomato sauce as linked above. The only difference is, with the onion and garlic at the beginning of the sauce, add the sausage. I recomend decasing the sauce so the cause maintains a fairly smooth consistency without large chunks.
However, you could also silghtly cook and slice the sausage and add as well. The primary difference would be the ultimate texture of the sauce and therfore the lasagna. Once the sausage begins to brown, add the canned tmoatoes, and follow the remainder of the sauce recipe as listed.
As the sauce is finishing, cook the lasagna noodles as instructed. Make sure to salt the water significantly and add some olive oil so that the noodles do not stick together. While the pasta is cooking, you should start the eggplant. Slice the eggplant very thinly.
Set up dredging stations with the flour, breadcrumbs, and whisked together egg as if you were making eggplant or chicken parmesan. Dip each eggplant slice into the flour, then egg, and then breadcrumbs, making sure each slice is fully coated.
At this point you could do one of two things. You could pan fry the eggplant in batches until golden brown. Given I was making two eggplants worth and it was slightly easier, I simply baked mine. Drizzle some olive oil over the eggplant silces and bake in a 400F degree oven for 5-6 minutes per side until lightly browned.
At this point, the pasta is likely done. Remove the boiling water and rinse under cold water. SSeparate the noodles to allow them to dry. Try your best to keep the pasta in large pieces, as it will make the layering much easier later on.
Lightly grease a large baking pan. Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce along the bottom of the pan. Next, spread the pasta noodles in single layer, topped with sauce, eggplant slices, riccotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. I would also recomend adding some cracked black or crushed red pepper with the cheeses, along with potentially fresh basil leaves. Once done with this layer, begin again with noodles, followed by sauce, eggplant and cheeses. Fill the pan to the top which should take roughly 3-4 layers. On the top layer, make sure to add some extra mozzarella so you get a nice, bubbly, cheesy top.
Bake the lasagna in a 350F degree oven for roughly 20-25 minutes, until the cheese has melted and it is hot throughout. If you’re going to save the lasagna, at this point, thoroughly cover the lasagna with foil and place in the freezer. Otherwise, serve hot, right out of the oven.