Wonderful Eggplant Lasagna Recipe

[VidenTheColdOne]

Man, I really did well tonight. I make dinner almost every night, and I decided to try something new, so I made an Eggplant Lasagna, and it was sooooo good. If you like that kind of thing, you should give it a try. This is how to make it:


Ingredients

1/4 stick of pepperoni
1 Bag Mozzarella Cheese
1 cup of Fresh Parmesan Cheese
4-5 Links of Italian Sausage
1lb of Ground Beef
1 Tablespoon of Garlic, chopped, or sliced
1 small Vidalia onion, chopped
40oz of Spaghetti Sauce
1 Large Eggplant
Italian Seasoned Breadcrumbs
3 eggs, beaten
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Italian Seasoning

You will firstly need to peel the eggplant, and then cut the Eggplant into rounds. You don't want them too thick, but not too thin. You want them to cook almost all the way through when you fry them later.

Once you have them cut into rounds, you will need to bread all the pieces, make sure you coat them thoroughly. Once breaded, put them into the fridge for 30-60 mins to set up. The longer, the better the breading will stick.

Meanwhile, take the chopped onion, and garlic and put it into a sauté pan with some olive oil. Add a pinch of salt (Kosher is preferred) and Black Pepper (again, freshly ground is better) Sautee until the garlic just starts to turn light brown, then add the lb of ground beef.

While the ground beef is cooking, cut up the pepperoni, and sausage into small pieces. (I used sausage I had previously cooked for a different meal. I just boiled it for about 20-30 minutes, and then browned it in a sauté pan) When the ground beef is browned, and most of the fat is gone, add the sausage and pepperoni mixture to the beef. Sautee for another few minutes until everything is heated through.

Before you add the Sauce to the meat, spread a thin coating on the bottom of the pan you are using so nothing sticks (I recommend a smaller Pyrex glass dish, its up to you to determine how much space you will need, and what kind of pans you have) Add the Italian seasoning to the meat Then mix the rest of the sauce into the meat mixture, and simmer on low.

Get your eggplant, and in another pan (I prefer a griddle, but any pan will do, non-stick recommended) coat the bottom of the pan with olive oil, and bring the heat up for a few minutes before adding the eggplant. Brown eggplant on both sides, and remove to some paper towels (don't worry about cooking it all the way through) you may need to add more olive oil if you need to do it in batches.

Now you begin layering. You may or may not have enough eggplant to cover the entire bottom of the pan, it depends on how big the eggplant was, and how thinly you cut it. Do your best, but try to save enough for 3 layers.

Add 1/3 of the meat mixture, and spread it evenly. Then add a good handful of mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese. Repeat until you get to the top. Add the meat and sauce mixture, but do not add the cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes. After that, remove the cover, and add the rest of your mozzarella, and parmesan cheese. Bake for another 5 minutes (10 if you like your cheese brown and bubbly)

Make sure you let it sit for 5 minutes after you take out of the oven or the cheese will just ooze out all over and make a mess.



If you make it, let me know what you think. Even if you don't make it, let me know what you think.

EDIT by OceanEyes28: And feel free to discuss cooking or your own recipes. Because there isn't much of a topic to be found in "What do you think of my eggplant lasagna?"

[Mr Spike]

That... actually sounds pretty good! (bookmarks page for future reference). Sauce with pepperoni (godly, imho) is always good.

I do a fair amount of food myself, mostly desserts mind but i do occasionally make a good main course. Nothing on that, mind, and i do use sauces out of jars (yes, i know, ban me).

I will say, though, with all that cheese i wouldn't be surprised if you started tripping through the night......

[Tallulah]

I like baking cakes and breads. I especially enjoy this recipe for banana bread.

I ought to cook more, though, but whenever I come home from work, I can't be bothered, particularly on Thursdays and Fridays when I do lates up until 10 in the evening. I can only really cook spaghetti bolognese, pancakes, and macaroni cheese. I ought to be more adventurous, and buy more kitchen equipment whilst I'm at it..

I might try that recipe once I get a glass baking dish. With all the meat and sausage and cheese that sounds lovely. I don't usually like eggplant, but it's worth a try.

[VidenTheColdOne]

Once you cut the eggplant thin, and bread it, you really don't even notice it, it just adds a nice little flavor in the background.

I hate to admit it myself, but i do often use jarred spaghetti sauce. If you have the time, then feel free to make your own, but there are some pretty decent sauces that can be found out there. I have tried quite a few, and only found a small amount that i didn't like. I try to stay away from store-brand sauce because they seem to be too thin. It works much better with a thicker sauce. I have made my own sauce with crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, onions, peppers, garlic, and basil, but i still just can't seem to get it thick enough.

I cook a ton. I always used to watch my mom, and i just kinda took over, and have been cooking ever since. I have some excellent recipes for the following if anyone is interested:

Hot Wings, and Honey Asian Wings
Chicken Marsala
Chicken Kiev
Chicken Parmesan
Baked Tilapia (I love tilapia)
Caramelized Onion Pork chops
Brined Turkey
Taco Salad
Meatloaf

I have a lot more, but i can't think of any off hand.

[Sean]

Pro tip:

sprinkle kosher salt on top of eggplant slices and let it sit for a bit on some sort of cooling rack, pat off the dark liquid that comes out, rinse off the salt, and pat dry. This results in a much, much less bitter flavor in the eggplant.


I always use jarred red sauces, period. it's too much of a pain in the **** to make your own, and there's nothing wrong with a plain, unseasoned jarred sauce that you add your own cheese and seasonings to.

Edit: I also hate non-stick pans. A good wire scrub is your best friend... Teflon can't handle high temperatures. I wish I had taken some of our 9" saute pans when our restaurant closed last week. :\


Edit again: If a sauce isn't think enough, cook the hell out of it, this is called reduction. Don't boil, that will scorch, just cook it away, uncovered, for a few hours, assuming there's substance in the sauce besides water. Using a roux or corn starch slurry works well for thickening any type of gravy or sauce, just not classic red sauces much. Most sauces are made using a roux or slurry for thickening, cream sauces made w/ heavy whipping cream and red sauces are really about all you can make without a thickener.

[VidenTheColdOne]

I have seen people salt the eggplant to draw out the bitterness, but i have never found the taste of eggplant to be overly bitter. It's something i would like to try, but i don't have any cooling racks (i really need some) and again, i often don't like dinner to take too much time. Usually on the weekend I'll do something like a roast, or a turkey, or something more intricate.

Tomato paste is pretty fair at thickening red sauces. Unfortunately, i rarely have time to "cook the hell" out of anything, lowl.

I have a love-hate relationship with nonstick pans. There are some applications i feel i just can't do without non-stick. Others, you need that good old skillet to get a good sear. I worry more about ripping up the food than doing dishes, dishes don't bother me, but i like the food to come out whole, and intact. I have gotten better at judging when to flip food, but i still mess it up now and then. I don't have much if any non-stick bake ware. I may have one big roaster with a V-Rack that is nonstick, but that's it. I just recently got the V-Rack, and i must say, i love it.

I have seen what they call Green Pans on infomercials, and they intrigue me. Apparently, the non-stick coating is a thin layer of ceramic, so it doesn't peel away like Teflon, and it can withstand high temperatures, like in the oven. I would love to try one, but they are fairly expensive.

[Sean]

Ugh, I can see a ceramic coated pan as being a nightmare, but then again, being a professional cook, it's engraved in me to be rough on pans, slinging tongs through the food, rattling them on the heat source, and cooking on max.

I've never had problems with food sticking to nonstick pans at all, just using a thin coat of oil on the pan and go to town. Eggs are another story... eggs stick to anything except a perfect teflon pan.