Vegetable Eggplant Gluten-Free "lasagna"

RebeccaBe's Note:

Packed full of flavor yet low in calories. My vegetarian and not-vegetarian (in any shape or form of the word) friends both love this. This recipee is easier to make than typical lasagna, substituting vegetable layers for the pasta layers, making it a gluten-free recipe. Serve this with a large green salad and it makes for a very satisfying meal.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 20 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves , minced
• 12 ounces eggplants , sliced in 1/2 inch slices (approximately one small eggplant)
• 1 teaspoon celery salt
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 3 cups low fat cottage cheese
• 1 large egg
• ¼ cup red onion , minced
• ¼ cup leek , minced (use only the green end)
• 2 cups fresh spinach , chopped
• 8 ounces zucchini , sliced in 1/2 inch slices
• 26 ounces spaghetti sauce (I like onion and garlic flavors)
• 8 ounces lowfat mozzarella cheese , sliced in approximately 6 1/4-inch-slices

Directions:

1. Spread olive oil onto bottom of 8”x10” glass baking dish. Add garlic. Place slices of eggplant onto oil as first layer. You may need to cut the eggplant slices to fit. It is okay to overlap the slices. Season the eggplant by sprinkling with ½ teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoons basil. Cover this eggplant layer with 2 cups of the spaghetti sauce. Mix the cottage cheese, egg, onion and leek, and the parsley together; stir until just blended. Layer this mixture onto the spaghetti sauce by taking a large spoon and adding heaping spoonfuls evenly over surface. Spread with the back of the spoon until the cottage cheese is covering the pan evenly from corner to corner. Add as the next layer the spinach and zucchini, put the spinach next to the cheese, adding the zucchini slices on top, seasoning these with ½ tsp celery salt and 1 tsp basil. Cover with the remaining sauce and add the cheese slices. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes; turn temperature down to 350 degrees, uncover and let the cheese brown for about 10 minutes. Allow to cool 5 minutes before serving. Serves four generous portions.