Eggplant lasagna?

Anybody have a recipe for this that uses ricotta and cottage cheese, maybe?  I found Cowboy's but it uses lots of mozzarella which I forgot to buy "lots" of!

This one only has 1/2 c of mozzarella...  it makes 10 servings so you could adjust it.

Ingredients

• 2 eggplants, sliced thin
• 3/4 cup flour
• salt and pepper
• cooking spray (olive oil would be ideal)
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 (15 ounce) cans tomatoes, drained and chopped
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped oregano
• 1-2 tablespoon basil
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed or 1-2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 (8-16 ounce) container ricotta cheese
• 2-3 teaspoons chives
• 1 beaten egg
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese (grated or chopped)

Directions

1. 1

   Preheat oven 350 degrees fahrenheit.

2. 2

   Mix salt, pepper and flour in a dish.

3. 3

   Dip eggplant slices into flour mixture.

4. 4

   Cover bottom of a fry pan with cooking oil spray.

5. 5

   Fry slices of eggplant until light brown on both sides over low-medium heat careful not to burn them.

6. 6

   When ready, remove from pan on paper towels to drain and set aside.

7. 7

   In a bowl combine the tomato sauce, tomatoes, oregano, basil, and garlic.

8. 8

   In another bowl combine ricotta cheese, chives, and the beaten egg.

9. 9

   Spoon one third of the tomato mixture into the bottom of a lasagne or casserole dish.

10. 10

    Place a layer of eggplant and cover with part of the grated cheese (about half).

11. 11

    Add a layer of ricotta cheese.

12. 12

    Continue alternating layers of ricotta cheese mixture, eggplant, and grated cheese.

13. 13

    Bake for aproximately 45 minutes to an hour.

14. 14

    Let cool for ease of slicing.

15. 15

    After dish is cool, portions can be sliced and frozen.

16. 16

    When ready, place frozen lasagne in a dish and bake in microwave covered with a paper towel till hot (maybe 4-5 minutes).

17. 17

    It can also be baked in a preheated oven at 350 degrees fahrenheit for aproximately 20 minutes or more.

Kim, you could use cottage cheese inbetween the layers, or the ricotta. When I make lasagna, I always use the small curd cottage cheese and less mozzarella. I have heard of people mixing ricotta with cream chees to get a less gritty taste that the ricotta seems to have....You can also mix the mozzarella with the cottage cheese if you want to put both down at the same time.... To me Lasagna is about the layering, and just create those with what you have and then sauce it up!!  Happy cooking!!
Sher

Thanks Ranae!  I'll give this a try!

I just made eggplant lasagna this afternoon!! Look at me, I cooked!

One thing to make a note of: after you slice the egglant, before cooking, layer them on a cookie sheet, springle salt on them, and cover with paper towel...you can do several layers this way always putting paper towel in between. Then place something heavy on the sliced eggplant and let sit there for about one hour...seriously....the reason for this is that eggplant discharges a lot of water, and if you don't use this method, the eggplant lasagna will come up soupy...it happened to me twice, until I remember how my Mom used to do this.

You can use ricotta cheese...the real lasagna is in fact made with ricotta cheese.

I am so glad to know about the paper towel deal on the slices. I just stay clear of egg plant though my dad loved it. I bought one yesterday at the Asian market and am planning on doing something with it....who knows...The eggplant Lasagna sounds good to me!! Thanks Anna

Thanks for the tip!  I never would've known to do that!  Didn't make it today but maybe tomorrow?

hmmmmmm-anyone got any leftovers?

I LOVE eggplant so i will definitely have to try this. And yes, real Italians only use ricotta. My dad would die if I served him any type of lasagna with cottage cheese. I made the mistake years ago taking him to Zios. He is STILL talking about that experience with "fake" italian food. LOL.

LOL! Your Dad sounds like my parents...they rarely ate at an Italian restaurant, because it wasn't "real" Italian food!