Lasagnas are like ogres…
Onions are like lasagnas?
Oniony ogres have cheesy layers?
Are Ogres considered vegetarian?? I mean, they ARE green!
Wait a minute, wait a minute…seriously, Heather? FOCUS!
There, THAT’S better!
In all my twenty-eight years, I have made a traditional lasagna ONCE. It was from an old Food Network chef who shall remain anonymous…but whose name may or may not rhyme with Mobin Riller. 😉 I had just discovered the world of healthy eating and was all about ditching the “junk” food for ya know, the REALLY healthy stuff…like fat-free cardboard fragments shredded cheese and that ground turkey that once cooked, resembles dried grout…oh and I was so excited ’cause I was in the kitchen being all domesticated and stuff!
That lasagna was a beast…a nine by eleven inch, feed-the-freakin’-Brady-Bunch, BEAST! I followed the recipe to a TEE. I set out to make what seemed guaranteed to be a week of amazing leftovers dinners. I meticulously layered my fat-free grout turkey, fat-free noodles, fat-free cheese, and fat-free kitchen sink…so afraid I’d mess up the order causing the entire pan to I don’t know, spontaneously combust?! FINALLY, into the oven it went! After an hour of anxious waiting, I pulled out tha’ beast, carefully carved out a slice, took a big ol’ bite annnnnnd?
I’d have been better off with one of those frozen slit-the-film-and-pop-in-the-oven “mystery” meals. Somehow with a heavy amount of hot sauce, I managed to get through a couple more servings that week, but sadly the rest turned into a mystery meal of its own in the dark depths of my fridge.
Needless to say, I was scarred for life a little hesitant to try lasagna-making again. But after whipping up my SUPER EASY pasta sauce last week, I could NOT get the idea out of my head. And well, since I’ve never really been a big fan of pasta (bread is my drug carb of choice), it only made sense to finally check something off the kitchen bucket list and make an eggplant version!
Originally, I had planned on this being just a simple eggplant and ricotta lasagna, but once I got started? Well, I started getting a little bilingual again! 😉
So in went some roasted portobello caps, a bag of kale I found in the back of the freezer, and heck, I even went wild and mixed two different kinds of FULL FAT cheese! As far as how the meticulousness of layering everything went? Yeah, I screwed that up after the third ingredient!
So when the recipe says “layer” your ingredients, I really just mean turn up the music, do a little twirl and just start throwing sh!t in the pan…because nothing’s gonna matter once that baby’s covered in cheese…warm and melty, crisp on the edges, mouth-gaaaaaasmic cheese!
Oh damn, sorry about that! Umm, I may need a moment…but yeah, you guys check out this DELICIOUS recipe! I’m uh, gonna go get a room plate and start FORKING some leftovers! 😉
Eggplant & Portobello Lasagna (GF)
By:
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Keywords: roast bake entrée gluten-free ricotta cheese eggplant parmesan cheese Italian summer winter spring fall
Ingredients (Serves 4-6)
- 1 large eggplant, cut into 1 inch slices
- 4 large portobello mushroom caps, stems removed and gills scraped clean
- olive oil spray
- 1 cup low-fat or fat-free ricotta cheese
- 2 egg whites
- 1 16 oz. bag frozen kale (or spinach), defrosted and squeezed of excess water
- 2 cups homemade pasta sauce
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Asiago cheese
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Arrange eggplant slices and portobello caps on two separate baking sheets.
3. Generously spray both sides of all eggplant slices and mushroom caps with olive oil spray.
4. Place both baking sheets in the oven and allow mushrooms to roast for 5 minutes before flipping.
5. After 5 more minutes, remove the mushrooms from the oven and flip the eggplant slices.
6. After 10 minutes, remove the eggplant from the oven and allow to cool.
7. While the eggplant and mushrooms are roasting, mix the ricotta cheese and egg whites in a small bowl and set aside.
8. In an 8×8 baking dish, spread about 1/3 of the sauce in the bottom before adding the mushroom caps, top side down.
9. Top with 1/2 the kale, 1/2 the ricotta mixture, 1/3 of the sauce, and 1/2 the eggplant slices.
10. Repeat layering once more, then top with grated cheese.
11. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour.
12. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes before serving.
Serves six if you pair it with a cool, crisp salad and/or some toasty garlic bread, or four if you’d rather just FORK yourself into a cheesy FOOD-COMA…like me! 😉
Have you ever made a lasagna?
Ever tried a famous recipe that turned out to be horrible?
Ohhh my goodness. Get in my belly! This looks amazing! I can’t wait to try this one, Heather!
I have NEVER made lasagna! This looks unreal, though, sweetie
Yay, I can’t wait to make this – it looks incredible, Heather! I’ve been too scared to make grain-free lasagne and I need to change that ASAP.
Oh my gosh girl, it’s SO easy! If I (of little direction, coordination, and focus) can do it, ANYONE can! Lol
Heather,
LOVED reading this, looking at it, and if I get some eggplant will be inspired by it.
You’re a terrific blogger!
Awww, Kirsten!!! Thank YOU!! You are SO sweet! Oh and speaking of being inspired…I made your tomato pesto the other day and put a little spin on it! It turned out AMAZING! I don’t know why, but I’d never thought to make pesto with tomatoes before…thanks so much for the idea!
I adore lasagna! I have a recipe that I use and make it a few times a year – more often in the winter and if I’m leaving for a couple of days. The boyfriend loves it and the leftovers will feed him for a few days 😉 And fat free cheese is pretty much the grossest substance on earth. The real stuff all the way!
I’m making this with pesto. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Probably sub out something else for the eggplant (zucchini?) as I don’t LOVE eggplant and pesto. GOD I WANT TOMATOES AND ONIONS. In my face. Now.
Omg, you’re freakin’ BRILLIANT!! Yes yes yes! You HAVE to let me know how it turns out! Annnnnnd? if you need a good pesto recipe, I just happen to have one big mamba jamba pesto post coming ‘atcha on Friday! That’s right, get excited! …and forget about those silly tomatoes! 😉
I hate to burst your bubble, but if it’s not made with cashews or goat parm, I can’t have it either. Feeding me is a chore.
Well lucky for you, I’m quite partial to vegan pestos! 😉 Cashews are seriously the way to go!
This. Looks. Amazing. And I hate when that happens in the kitchen!
Ogres are totally vegetarians 😉 And they’d totally be all up on this lasagna! This meal is perfect for me…first of all: layers – I LOVE layers. Second of all: gluten-free – huge plus! Third of all: Eggplant + Kale = loves of my liiiiiife! Ugh, I could keep going and going, but I think I just need to make this and put myself in a food coma! 😉
omg this looks amazing!
I’m a big fan of lasagne although eggplant, not so much. I would happily makes this with layers of pasta though and of course full fat cheese. Go big or go home! Or at least go get your groove on.
I made a lasagna with chicken sausage and eggplant and portobellos very similar to this a few weeks ago. It didn’t look as pretty, but a 9×13 pan was finished off by myself and 3 boys in one sitting–so I’d say it tasted just fine. 😉
Nice! I’d say it came out a little more than “just fine”! Haha! I’ve been eyeing some chicken sausages at Costco for the last month or so but can’t decide what flavor to get…which ones do you like?
Oh yummmm! I adore lasagna. I’ve never even attempted it though because my dad makes such a fabulous lasagna (filled with cheese, bechamel sauce, beef, cheese, cheese, and more cheese haha) that I know my version wouldn’t even compare. But I honestly think yours might convince me to finally try making one. I love all the flavours in this!
Omg, you had me at bechamel! So about those adoption papers… 😉
This sounds good to me! I found an eggplant rollatini recipe that I just adore, so I bet I’d love this too. Rolls, layers, whatever you do to it – just get cheese in mah bellayyyy!
Ohhhh! I’ve always wanted to try a lasagna roll! The only thing that’s kept me from it are the flashbacks to the time I made manicotti and was practically up to my elbows in sauce/filling by the time I was done! And my kitchen may or may not have looked like a bomb went off in it moments after it went in the oven! Good news was it turned out 3956387 times better than that bland lasagna! ha!
I have been craving lasagna and eggplant. And cheese. No cheese for 2 more months. The world is cruel.
God bless woman! What CAN you have?! …besides asparagus! 😉
You are a strong woman…I would totally snap and end up holding up a Dunkin Donuts! You only THINK I’m kidding!
This looks amazing- I guarantee you I will be making it this week- I promised mum I’d cook her dinner and she loves eggplant.
I once tried one of those copycat mcdonalds hotcakes recipes….hockey pucks was my final product.
Awww, aren’t you just the sweetest son a mother could have! Let me know what you (and your mama) think! 🙂
Hockey pucks, huh? Hope you didn’t chip a tooth! Lol
This post has me SOO hungry! Can’t wait to try this!
Looks AMAZING!! 🙂
Lasagna IS one of the best dishes ever. I’ve made it a couple of times while still living at home. Once trying a Spinach Lasagna with a friend going all out chopping 2.5+ lb of fresh spinach. Let’s just say now I know why I buy the frozen pre-chopped kind … The lasagna was delicious nonetheless. Oh, and you saved a piece of yours for me, right?
Maybe not a famous chef’s recipe but one by what might be the best-known German cookbook publishing company: my sister and I tried their recipe for Crème brûlée years ago for Christmas and it tasted like … scrambled eggs. Note that I was still eating eggs back then but you don’t exactly want you dessert to taste like that. Needless to say I haven’t tried making Crème brûlée again since.
Oh my gosh, gross!! I’d be scarred from that for sure! And wow, I can’t believe you chopped all that spinach! Haha! Oh and just so you know, there’s a slice in the freezer with your name written ALLLLLL over it! 😉
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