Intimidating Foods: Eggplant Lasagna

One of my goals for this month was to choose one of my intimidating foods and make it. I started with what is probably one of the easier ones, but which I had never tried before: eggplant lasagna.  The boys helped me pick out a good sized eggplant at the store, and we sliced it up.

And then I went crazy and came up with my own recipe.  Because I like to make things more difficult for myself.  It gets an A+ for taste, but a C for presentation, because it kind of fell apart instead of making pretty layered slices, so we ate it in bowls.  It still worked out okay, and I think I'll keep the sauce in mind for future homemade Italian foods, because that part was delicious (and I actually measured spices, which is unusual for me!).

Eggplant Lasagna
(serves 6)

Ingredients:

• Eggplant, about 1-1/4 lbs.
• 28oz can crushed tomatoes
• 2 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp. parsley
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 8oz. mushrooms, chopped
• 16oz. cottage cheese
• 6-8oz. mozzarella cheese, sliced

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F.  Slice eggplant, and place in a single layer on a cookie sheet (you'll probably need 2).  Drizzle with olive oil and roast for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare sauce and filling.  In mixing bowl, stir together crushed tomatoes, mushrooms, and spices.  Lower oven heat to 350F and put lasagna together as follows.

In 13x9 pan, layer 1/4 of the sauce, sliced eggplant, 1/2 of sliced cheese, 1/2 of cottage cheese, 1/2 of the sauce, sliced eggplant, 1/2 of sliced cheese, 1/2 of cottage cheese, remaining eggplant, and remaining sauce. You can also top with additional shredded cheese if you want.  Bake at 350F for 25-35 minutes, until eggplant is tender and easily sliced.

You can follow this recipe with the caveat that it will be runny. I am not sure if adding an egg or two would help hold things together more, or if I need to do something else to the eggplant to get rid of more of the liquid that comes out as they cook.  Regardless, the taste is delicious! Even the kids liked it!

Have you ever made eggplant lasagna? What am I missing?