Lasagna With Roasted Eggplant Ricotta Filling Recipes

EGGPLANT LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 450°F. Evenly space out 2 oven racks.
• Lay the eggplant in an even layer on two or more rimmed baking sheets. Brush both sides of the eggplant slices with oil, then season each side with oregano, salt and pepper. Bake for 15 minutes, then flip and bake until other sides are lightly browned (about 10 minutes more). Set aside. Reduce oven temperature to 400°F.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna sheets for 4 minutes. They will still be fairly firm. Drain and rinse under cold water. Transfer cooked lasagna sheets to a parchment-lined baking sheet in even layers separated by parchment.
• Add ricotta cheese, 3 ounces mozzarella cheese, 1 1/2 ounces grated Parmesan and chopped basil to a medium bowl, mixing to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Spread 3/4 cup of tomato sauce in an even layer in the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Top with 1/4 of the cooked lasagna sheets, arranged in an even layer. Top the noodles evenly with 1/3 of the eggplant, then 1/3 of the cheese mixture. Repeat even layers two more times with remaining sauce, lasagna sheets, eggplant and cheese mixture. Finish with remaining 3/4 cup of tomato sauce and lasagna sheets. Top evenly with remaining 4 ounces mozzarella and 1 1/2 ounces Parmesan cheese.
• Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil, then bake until the cheese is melty and golden on top (about 15 minutes more). Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

ROASTED EGGPLANT LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• Place eggplant slices on a wire rack; sprinkle with salt. Let sit until some liquid starts beading on slices, about 20 minutes. Rinse salt off eggplant slices and pat dry. Brush olive oil over both sides of each slice. Arrange eggplant slices on a baking sheet.
• Roast in the preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Flip eggplant slices and continue roasting until slices are tender and lightly browned, 15 to 20 more minutes. Remove eggplant from oven and reduce temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Mix ricotta cheese, Italian cheese blend, egg, garlic, oregano, thyme, and black pepper together in a bowl.
• Line a 9-inch square pan with aluminum foil. Coat the bottom of the pan with about 1/2 cup tomato sauce; top with 1/2 of the eggplant slices. Layer eggplant slices with 1/2 of the spinach, 1/2 of the ricotta mixture, and 1/2 of the remaining tomato sauce. Continue layering with remaining ingredients, ending with sauce. Top with mozzarella slices. Cover pan with aluminum foil.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and continue baking until cheese is brown and bubbling, 5 to 10 more minutes.

LASAGNA WITH ROASTED EGGPLANT-RICOTTA FILLING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Place the cherry tomatoes on a large baking sheet along with the thyme, oregano and garlic. Dress with 2 tablespoons of the EVOO, season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Roast until the tomatoes burst, 35 to 45 minutes.
• Brush the eggplant with the remaining 2 tablespoons EVOO and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place cut-side down on a baking sheet and roast alongside the tomatoes until soft, 30 to 40 minutes.
• Let the tomatoes cool slightly, and then puree them with the basil in a food processor until smooth. Remove the skins from the garlic and puree the sauce with the roasted cloves before transferring the sauce to a bowl.
• When the eggplant has cooled, spoon out the flesh and add it into the cleaned bowl of the food processor along with the ricotta, Parmigiano-Reggiano, egg yolks and some salt and pepper. Puree the mixture until smooth and season with more salt and pepper.
• Ladle one-third of the tomato sauce into the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch casserole dish. Layer pasta sheets on top, followed by one-half of the eggplant, more pasta sheets, tomato sauce and 1/2 of the mozzarella. Repeat with another layer of pasta sheets, followed by the remaining eggplant, more pasta sheets and the remaining tomato sauce. Top the lasagna with the remaining mozzarella. Bake 1 hour. Let cool 20 minutes before serving.
• Cook's Note: Cool completely before storing in the refrigerator or freezer for a make-ahead meal. Bring to room temperature before reheating, covered, at 325 degrees F, 20 to 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes.

LASAGNE ROLLS WITH ROASTED TOMATO AND EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Make sauce:
• Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 425°F. Oil a 13- by 9-inch or other 3-quart glass or ceramic baking dish and a large shallow baking pan.
• Toss together tomatoes, garlic, 3 tablespoons oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in baking dish, then arrange tomatoes, cut sides up, in 1 layer. Toss eggplant with remaining 3 tablespoons oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in baking pan.
• Roast tomatoes and eggplant, switching position of dish and pan halfway through baking, until tomato skins are wrinkled and beginning to brown and eggplant is golden brown and tender, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Cool vegetables slightly in dish and pan on racks. (Leave oven on.)
• When tomatoes and garlic are cool enough to handle, transfer to a cutting board (do not clean baking dish). Cut each tomato half lengthwise into 3 pieces and coarsely chop garlic. Transfer to a large bowl, then stir in eggplant and water.
• Make filling and pasta while vegetables for sauce are roasting:
• Stir together all filling ingredients until combined well.
• Cook pasta in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tender. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold running water. Lay noodles flat on a clean kitchen towel and pat dry with paper towels, then cut in half crosswise (you will have 12 noodles).
• Assemble and bake lasagne:
• Move upper oven rack to middle position.
• Spread out half of vegetable mixture in uncleaned baking dish. Lay 4 noodles on a work surface, then spread 3 tablespoons filling evenly over each noodle. Roll up noodles tightly and put rolls, seam sides down and without touching, in vegetable mixture in dish. Make 8 more rolls with remaining noodles and filling in same manner, transferring to dish.
• Lightly brush rolls with water, then spoon remaining vegetables over rolls. Cover dish tightly with foil and bake until heated through, about 20 minutes.