Eggplant Lasagna

I had used about half a large eggplant to make my eggplant parmesan, and I was trying to decide what to use the rest of the eggplant for.  I could make more parmesan, but then I realized that I had a few lasagna noodles left in the pantry, and plenty of mozzarella leftover from the parmesan, so I figured what the heck, I'd give lasagna with eggplant in it a try.  I've made lasagna plenty of times, but never with eggplant in it. 

I usually make lasagna with lots and lots of cheese.  I didn't actually have any ricotta in the house, so I made some with the milk we had.  (Yeah, I'm that crazy, spending hours making lasagna AFTER spending hours making my own cheese.  Somebody commit me or something).  I didn't get much ricotta, but it was enough for one layer.  I normally would do two very thick layers of ricotta, but for this lasagna I had one ricotta layer and one thinly-sliced eggplant layer.  The skins don't need to be cut off of eggplant for something like this, or for eggplant parmesan, etc., but I personally like the skins off.  I also like to salt the sliced eggplant and let it sit for 15-20 minutes or so, to draw some of the moisture out of the eggplant.  This helps the eggplant from becoming too mushy.

For lasagna, I like to make a simple tomato sauce without too much seasoning and without chunks in it.  It also helps to have a little water in the sauce so that as the lasagna cooks, it doesn't become too dry.  The noodles get cooked a little less than al dente in boiling water, so that they can finish cooking in the oven.

After building the lasagna with multiple layers of noodles, sauce, eggplant, and cheese, I topped the lasagna with plenty more sauce and lots and lots of mozzarella.  Baking time always varies depending on how thick the lasagna is, but I always cook it until it has darker, crusty edges.  Those are the best parts, the crusty edges.

My eggplant lasagna experiment was great, even though I did miss the extra cheese.  I just love love love the taste of eggplant! 

Happy eating!