Healthy Eggplant & Pasta Bake

Submitted by jude503

"I started craving Eggplant Ziti after watching too many episodes of The Soprano's - but I wanted a version I could feel good about eating. Use regular pasta if you like - But if you've never tried quinoa pasta it is awesome. It's way healthier than regular pasta and tastes a little like corn. Easy and DELISH!"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 20mins
• Ingredients: 10
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1 medium eggplant, sliced 1/4-inch thick
• 1 large zucchini, sliced 1/8-inch thick
• 4 garlic cloves, diced
• 1 1⁄2 cups dry measure quinoa pasta (elbows)
• 1 (16 ounce) container low fat cottage cheese
• 1 egg
• 8 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 2 ounces grated romano cheese (or parmesan)
• 1 (25 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce (or about 1 1/2 cups homemade)
• salt & fresh ground pepper

directions

1. Salt eggplant slices and let sit 30 minutes in colander.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bring large pot of water to boil. Cook pasta 4-5 minutes (about halfway done). drain & rinse with cold water.
3. Mix egg and cottage cheese together. Rinse eggplant and pat dry.
4. Use a 9x9 or 9x13 casserole dish (the 9x9 will be filled to the brim). Spray with olive oil cooking spray. Start layering the ingredients. First a thin layer of sauce, then arrange so there are 2 layers of each ingredient: salt & pepper the veggies a little as you go & make sure the cottage cheese mixture is next to the pasta (it cooks into the pasta & tastes great). Top layers with sauce and about 1/2 the mozz & parm.
5. Bake 40 minutes covered & then uncover 'til brown & bubbly (about 10 more min.) Let sit a few minutes before slicing.

Reviews

[Larry Spaghetti]

Very tasty and easy recipe. I used summer squash in place of zucchini and skipped the cottage cheese this time (I used ricotta cheese when I made this a few weeks ago). In 40 minutes, the veggies cook up nicely, and the whole thing melts together into a tasty dinner thanks to the mozzarella. Thanks for sharing the recipe, Jude!

 

[Deb B.]

I followed the recommendations exactly as suggested with two minor changes. I used two small eggplants since I did not have zucchini and I used a high fiber pasta rather than the quinoa pasta. It was EXCELLENT! All of the sinfully delicious taste of a heavy italian meal without any of the guilt! I also didn't know what you wanted people to do with the 4 cloves of garlic, I just minced the garlic and tossed it into the sauce as I layered the dish. Really nice! I will make it again.