Veggie Cheese Pie

Derf's Note:

Delicious veggie pie, with eggplant crust. Fills the house with a wonderful aroma while cooking! From Becel

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 25 mins
• Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1 medium eggplant (about 1 lb)
• 1 tablespoon margarine , melted
• 1 small fennel bulb , chopped (or half a large fennel bulb)
• ½ cup red onion , finely chopped
• ¼ cup fresh basil , finely chredded
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 plum tomatoes , medium,sliced
• 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (about 1/4 lb)

Topping

• ¼ cup fresh white breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
• ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Prehead oven to 450f degrees.
2. Cut eggplant crosswise into 1/4 inch slices.
3. Toss eggplant slices with melted margarine;place on baking sheet.
4. Bake 10 minutes.
5. Place fennel and onion on baking sheet; bake 5 to 7 minutes more or until fennel is softened.
6. Remove from oven.
7. Reduce temperature to 375f degrees.
8. In a 9 inch pie plate arrange eggplant slices, slightly overlapping, to cover bottom and sides.
9. Mix fennel and onion with the basil and lemon juice; spoon over eggplant slices.
10. Arrange the tomato slices over the fennel mixture.
11. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over tomato slices.
12. To make the topping: In a small bowl, mix together breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, oregano and pepper.
13. Sprinkle over mozzarella.
14. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until topping is lightly browned.
15. Let rest 10 minutes before slicing.

Reviews

[Mirj]

I changed this recipe in two ways. I do not like fennel, so I left it out, and I am on a diet which doesn't allow me to combine breadcrumbs with cheese, so I left the crumbs out as well. In spite of these two changes, this was fantastic! To compensate for the missing fennel I used a large eggplant instead of a medium-sized one. This was a wonderful light supper with an Israeli salad on the side. A great dish for anyone who is Somersizing or on the Atkins diet (just leave out the breadcrumbs)!