Entry #3178, January 7, 2014

Sticking to a healthy diet can be especially hard when winter weather has you craving comfort food. One of the easiest ways to avoid temptation is to make sure that you arm yourself with an arsenal of quick and tasty recipes at your disposal. This roasted eggplant lasagna recipe is sure to become a family favorite. It’s so deliciously cheesy that you won’t even miss the noodles.

Healthier You: Roasted Eggplant Lasagna

Eggplant lasagna recipe

Image Via: Dinner in Venice

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant

1 small onion

1 tablespoon minced garlic

64 ounces of crushed tomatoes 

6 ounces tomato paste

3 bay leaves

1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese

Eggplant lasagna

Image Via:Salu Salo Recipes

Preparation:

1. Mince the onion and garlic.
2. In a large sauce pot, gently sweat the onions and garlic with a few tablespoons of olive oil. Cook them for about two minutes or until the garlic is fragrant and the onion is translucent.
3. Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaves, Italian seasoning, dried basil, and dried oregano to the pot. Season it with salt and pepper and turn the heat to low.
4. Allow the sauce to simmer for 1-2 hours, stirring and adjusting the seasonings for later.
5. When ready to make the lasagna, pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
6. Peel the eggplant and slice it into thin rounds. (Note: You don’t want the slices to be transparent, but beyond that you’ll want them to be as thin as possible in order to ensure that they fully cook through.)
7. Grease a bake proof casserole dish with cooking spray.
8. Spoon enough tomato sauce into the dish to coat the bottom.
9. Arrange the pieces of eggplant in a single layer, so that their edges touch, but they are not tightly packed.
10. Lightly spread tomato sauce over the rounds and sprinkle with cheese.
11. Repeat the layers, topping the casserole with the remaining mozzarella cheese.
12.  Cover the dish with tented tinfoil and transfer it into the oven.
13. Bake it for an hour, removing the tinfoil for the last fifteen minutes to give the cheese a chance to brown.
14. Allow the lasagna to cool for at least ten minutes before serving.

This recipe is especially freezer friendly. You will have a large quantity of extra sauce leftover, so could easily double the other ingredients and make an additional casserole for a particularly hectic weeknight. It also reheats well, so feel free to earmark leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch.

For more easy meals on Stagetecture, click here.