Vegetable Lasagna Without the Lasagna

Bergy's Note:

A nice change, leaving out the lasagna. I like to add some sliced mushrooms and hot peppers. This is another dish that you can experiment with and make it to suit your own taste. Do ahead and pop it in the oven 1 hour or so before serving. With eggplants I find it depends on the age and size whether you peel it or not. I recommend that you peel them. I also substitute unpeeled Zucchini for the eggplant.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 45 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 9

• 2 large eggplants , sliced lengthwise into 1/4-inch strips
• ¾ cup onion , chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt , divided
• ½ teaspoon pepper , divided
• 1 lb low-fat ricotta cheese
• 1 egg white
• 1 tablespoon green onion , chopped
• 2 ½ cups tomato sauce
• 1 cup reduced-fat mozzarella cheese
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese , grated

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Sprinkle both sides of the peeled egg plant slices with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.
3. Place strips of egg plant and the chopped onions on a non stick baking sheet, in a single layer, and bake for 5 to 7 minutes; turn the strips over and bake a little longer until the eggplant is slightly soft. You should still be able to lift the slices but they should be soft. Stir up the onions; they should be translucent. If one is done before the other, take it out of the oven until both are cooked.
4. Mix together the ricotta, egg white, green onion and remaining salt and pepper.
5. Spread 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9x13" oven proof casserole.
6. Place a layer of eggplant and onion, using about one third.
7. Cover with half of the ricotta mixture.
8. Add another layer of veggies (1/3).
9. Cover with the rest of the ricotta.
10. Add the rest of the veggies.
11. Add the remaining tomato sauce on top.
12. Sprinkle with the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
13. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour at 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
14. Remove foil and bake another 5 to 10 minutes until the cheese is nicely browned.

Reviews

[Eric Walker]

A very good, quick prep, healthy, mix and match way to go. I have to watch fat, cholesterol and sodium. I used fat free ricotta and low fat other cheeses, off brand spaghetti sauce fat free 320mg sodium per serving and even cut the recipie in half, also used no additional salt. My teenage daughter said it was cool! I didn't tell her about the Egg plant though. (I would recommend the same). It was GREAT! Thank You.

[Chef mokhal]

Excellant! I fixed mine a little different: Instead of baking the eggplant one layer at a time I put all of them on the cookie sheet and covered it with foil and baked them for 28 m. at the recommended temp. Then I took all the vegetable and steamed them each in a skillet. Instead of 1 egg white I used two. My additional vegetables were cauliflower, carrots, and green and yellow squashes. I also used grated parmesan cheese from a container with Hunts traditional tomato sauce (2 Cans). I added no salt.