I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape — the loneliness of it; the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show – Andrew Wyeth
.<>.<>.
I like the idea of embracing the season of frost, storm and cloud while the story of spring unfolds.
Whether that means hibernating under a pile of blankets to watch the winter Olympics (we’ve been staying up way too late catching the live action); hanging out in the fresh mountain air (hello motherland); or dinner by the fire in the comfort of home (and maybe the promise of something warm, bubbly and delicious baking in the oven).
Whatever your February holds, love it or leave it, I hope this dish fits in with your plans.
This was my first experiment with eggplant lasagna (have you tried it before?) I learnt a ton through the process and half dozen trials (always an upside to being stubborn determined).
I’ve put together some detailed Notes in the recipe card to save you time (and grief) so be sure to give them a read before jumping in.
Cheers to the season of comfort, good food and resilient hearts.
Cozy Eggplant Lasagna (GF, Vegetarian)
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
A cozy and delicious eggplant lasagna to keep you warm through the long winter months.
Author: Kelly
Serves: 8-12 servings
Ingredients
- 2-3 eggplants (you will need about 7 long slices)
- 1 yellow onion, fine chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp. dried oregano
- ½ cup fresh basil, chopped
- 1 x 25 oz (709 g) jar of your favorite marinara (or pasta sauce of choice)
- 16 oz (2 cups/454 g) whole milk ricotta (cottage cheese lovers see Notes)
- 1 egg
- 2 oz (1/2 cup/56g) grated Parmesan
- 8 oz (2 cups/226 g) shredded whole milk mozzarella
- fresh chopped parsley for garnish (or basil as desired)
Instructions
- This recipe will make 2 full layers (marinara, eggplant, ricotta/parm, moz cheese x 2). I used a rectangular glass pan 11.5" x 7.5" x 2"
- Preheat oven to 425° F
- Cut ends off eggplants and slice layers (eggplant 'noodles') thinly lengthwise, aiming for about 7 long'ish slices (from the mid section of the eggplant), about ¼” thick - if you have a mandoline you can use it here, otherwise just eyeball it.
- Place eggplant slices on a cooling rack and season with salt (this will help release some of the moisture) - let sit for 10 minutes dab dry with a clean dish towel and then flip and salt the other side and dab dry after 10 minutes.
- Lay eggplant slices on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with olive oil and bake for 5 minutes on each side, remove from oven, dab any excess moisture and set aside.
- Reduce oven heat to 400° F
- In a large skillet set to low-medium heat, sauté the onion and garlic in some olive oil for a few minutes until translucent. Add the oregano, mixing to combine and then stir in the marinara.
- Meanwhile, in a medium sized bowl, combine ricotta (or cottage cheese), Parmesan, egg and basil. Season with salt and pepper.
- In a rectangular casserole dish (I used 11.5" x 7.5" x 2"), spread a little less than half the marinara sauce across the base. Layer a row of eggplant “noodles" over the sauce (I only needed 3.5 ish across the width of the dish - see Notes for more info).
- Cover the eggplant slices with half of the ricotta/parm mixture and then top with half of the mozzarella.
- Repeat layers using remaining ingredients in the same order.
- Cover the dish with foil (making sure foil is not too close to your mozzarella cheese - it will stick!) and bake for 35 minutes. Remove from oven, uncover and bake for another 10 minutes until the tomato sauce is bubbling along the edges and the cheese is developing a nice golden color (you can also broil for a few minutes towards the end - watching closely not to burn).
- Remove from oven and allow the lasagna to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing.
- Garnish with parsley or basil and accompany with a salad or as desired.
Notes
Do I really need to salt and bake the eggplant slices? both steps are important for removing excess water from the eggplant and softening it up. Nobody likes lasagna soup (nor dense, chewy pieces of eggplant that are tough to eat -- and cut!) In short, you don't want to skip these steps.
Can I use Cottage Cheese instead of Ricotta? I love cottage cheese and prefer its taste in lasagna. The issue here, again, is moisture. Ricotta is a dryer cheese that seems to work better with a vegetable based lasagna. If you want to use cottage cheese, I recommend cooling the lasagna fully and then slicing and rewarming. Otherwise, you may find it a little wet and tricky to get clean slices out of the oven.
My eggplant slices don't fully cover the surface, does it matter? I found that 3.5 center cut slices across the width of the dish worked well (tiny gaps but no big deal). If you have a larger gap betw slices just cut that shape from a leftover piece of eggplant to fill the gap. You can also overlap a bit.
Are thicker eggplant slices okay? I recommend about ¼" thick - if the slices are too thick, they won't soften sufficiently and will taste dense/chewy and will also be more difficult to cut. Boo.
Why doesn't my mozzarella cheese topping look like yours? what kind of cheese did you use? Low-fat/fat free mozzarella cheese does not melt well - it turns into a sheet of plastic with burnt edges. Double boo.
I'm having trouble cutting the eggplant noodles, send help! Eggplant is denser than pasta however 3 things will help: (i) pick eggplants that are not overripe (they should be fairly firm to the touch in the center, giving way slightly when gently squeezed and springing back without staying indented where your fingers were) they should also have some weight (not be too light for their size).
Overripe eggplants will often be brown inside (a sign of rotting) with a more pronounced bitter taste; (ii) be sure to sweat & bake your eggplant per instructions; (iii) use a sharp knife or pizza cutter wheel and make the incisions fully (slicing back and forth) before attempting liftoff from the pan - this will help avoid getting hung.
Can I use Cottage Cheese instead of Ricotta? I love cottage cheese and prefer its taste in lasagna. The issue here, again, is moisture. Ricotta is a dryer cheese that seems to work better with a vegetable based lasagna. If you want to use cottage cheese, I recommend cooling the lasagna fully and then slicing and rewarming. Otherwise, you may find it a little wet and tricky to get clean slices out of the oven.
My eggplant slices don't fully cover the surface, does it matter? I found that 3.5 center cut slices across the width of the dish worked well (tiny gaps but no big deal). If you have a larger gap betw slices just cut that shape from a leftover piece of eggplant to fill the gap. You can also overlap a bit.
Are thicker eggplant slices okay? I recommend about ¼" thick - if the slices are too thick, they won't soften sufficiently and will taste dense/chewy and will also be more difficult to cut. Boo.
Why doesn't my mozzarella cheese topping look like yours? what kind of cheese did you use? Low-fat/fat free mozzarella cheese does not melt well - it turns into a sheet of plastic with burnt edges. Double boo.
I'm having trouble cutting the eggplant noodles, send help! Eggplant is denser than pasta however 3 things will help: (i) pick eggplants that are not overripe (they should be fairly firm to the touch in the center, giving way slightly when gently squeezed and springing back without staying indented where your fingers were) they should also have some weight (not be too light for their size).
Overripe eggplants will often be brown inside (a sign of rotting) with a more pronounced bitter taste; (ii) be sure to sweat & bake your eggplant per instructions; (iii) use a sharp knife or pizza cutter wheel and make the incisions fully (slicing back and forth) before attempting liftoff from the pan - this will help avoid getting hung.
So this took me the better part of the day… my own fault. I made the marinara sauce from scratch… also added spinach..and my family love noodles so we did noodles as well…
We shall see what happens. I added onions, carrots, peppers, mushrooms celery to sauce…
I like the idea of adding basil to the cheese mixture..
Looking gorgeous! Thank you for sharing: https://imgur.com/a/QD4WBJK
Can this be frozen and served at a later date? It looks delicious.
Hello, I haven’t done the experiment myself but my instincts are telling me that freezing this recipe might not produce the best results. The sweating and baking will release some of the water in the eggplant but I’m concerned that the freeze/thaw or even freeze/bake might unleash more water resulting in a soupier consistency than desired. I’d feel more comfortable suggesting that you make the lasagna a day ahead and store in fridge overnight. If you do end up freezing, please let me know how it goes!
hey do you have any idea of the calories per serving for this lasagna?
Somewhere in the range of 300 calories per serving based on 8 pieces (there will be variance depending on type/brand of cheese and marinara used).
What about preparing ahead and baking the next day? Would it work or would any modifications have to be made?
Hi Cristy, I think you should be fine prepping and assembling the day before and storing in the fridge overnight. You might need a slightly longer cooking time (to make up for fridge cooling) but I don’t expect that would go much beyond 6 minutes or so. The most important suggestion I can give you is to read through the instructions (and especially the Notes) in the recipe card ahead of time – sweating/baking the eggplant is really important to draw out moisture. Choice of eggplant also plays in to taste, texture and ease of cutting (I give detailed tips here too). I can’t wait to hear how it goes if you give it a try! I hope you really enjoy it.
I have never thought of baking the eggplant to help draw the water out. I’ve been taught by my Sicilian great aunt to salt both sides and weigh them down for the water to draw out. Your method seems a lot faster! I am thankful for the tip and will have to share it with my sister. Thanks for the post!
hello! your aunt’s tip about weighing down the slices is a great one; it would accelerate and help the process. I salt and bake the eggplant to draw out moisture but also to soften the eggplant somewhat — working with ripe eggplant (but not overripe) is also key; I’ve discovered that overripe eggplant is really chewy and difficult to cut in lasagna. If all else fails though, lasagna “stew” is still delicious ;-) thanks so much for stopping by.
Kelly, your lasagne look fabulous, even though there’s no bolognese sauce I am usually crazy for! Actually now that I think this dish is closer to the Greek moussaka than lasagne, though with Italian cheese… Whatever the origins, it’s one of those rare vegetarian dishes I’m bookmarking to prepare soon!
Veeery useful tips, by the way! Thank you so much!
I’m glad you find the notes helpful Sissi; I definitely learnt a lot along the way. Hope you enjoy this recipe if you have a chance to give it a try.
Vegetable lasagna without noodles is one of my all-time favourites! I have experimented with zucchini lasagna and love each and every rendition! I whole-heartedly agree, if you are going to use cheese, use the real stuff is my motto, that low-fat stuff doesn’t even taste like cheese! This is truly a beautiful recipe to curl up in front of the fireplace with.
cheers to the real stuff! Have a brilliant day Eva.
So glad I waited to give eggplant lasagne another try. Love that you’ve identified the challenges and have written it all for us. I’ve made it once before and it was a disaster, but now I see my problem, or should I say “problems” :) Your pictures show how perfect it is and the recipe – OMG! It’s so much simpler than I thought. Saving this post so next time I want to give it a try, I have the words of an expert! Thanks so much Kelly!
never fun when disaster strikes ;d hope this one turns out better for you! x
ah, the winter olympics… we go crazy, I honestly don’t care who wins, I am always all emotional because the effort, dedication, hard work they put into it all is enough to make me choke… Four years waiting to shine…
but, back to eggplant lasagna – I made a similar version and now need to “compare notes” – I think I did use ricotta in mine, gotta double check. It is soooo much lighter than the original version, I love everything about it
the personal stories are always my favorite but the heartbreak that can sometimes ensue is never easy. I try to remind myself that it’s the athlete’s chosen path (hopefully) and that risk is always part of the picture. The commitment and hard work are truly stunning, agreed. x