Eggplant-Veggie Lasagna

This is a somewhat time-consuming dish to prepare, but the finished product makes for great leftovers or could be frozen. This lasagna is heavy on veggies and light on cheese and pasta. Plus, mmmm. I ate mine with a sprinkle of parmesan and crushed red pepper. “Making of” post to come!

You’ll need:

• 1 medium eggplant, cut length-wise into thin strips
• 2 zuchinni, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 bag frozen spinach, thawed
• 10 whole wheat lasagna pasta strips
• 1 jar tomato sauce (we used Amy’s organic brand)
• 1 1/2 cups low-fat ricotta*
• 1 C mozzarrella*

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Sweat the eggplant by salting them and then letting them rest for 30 mins.
• While the eggplant is sweating, cook pasta according to directions.
• Saute the eggplant in a small amount of olive oil for ~3 minutes on each side.
• Remove eggplant from pan and set aside. Saute the onion until slightly tranlucent, then add zuchinni and spinach. Saute for about 10 minutes or until everything is tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Begin layering: layer of pasta, layer of eggplant, layer of sauce, thin layer of ricotta, layer of all cooked veggies, layer of eggplant, layer of pasta, layer of ricotta, layer of sauce, thin layer of mozzarella sprinkled on top.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling.
• Let cool for 5-10 minutes and serve.

*Portions of cheese can easily be modified according to taste.