Eggplant Lasagna

The Spouse has been waiting for this meal all summer. Our eggplants were a little slow to get going but now they're ready for harvest. We planted "Hansel" eggplants, which are smaller than your average globe eggplant. The downside is it takes more of them to make a meal, the upside is the seeds are negligible to the point of being non-existent.

I used the convection setting on our oven to speed the baking time a bit.

Eggplant Lasagna

6 'Hansel' Eggplant, peeled and cut on the bias (you could also substitute 2 Japanese eggplant or 1 globe eggplant)
1 cup bread or corn crumbs
2 tsp Italian Seasoning (or use a mixture of oregano and basil)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

9 lasagna noodles (either no-boil or cook to package directions)
20 oz marinara sauce (I used my homemade red-wine marinara)
1 container cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
1 egg
1 tsp Italian Seasoning (or mix oregano and basil)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat convection oven to 450ºF. Combine bread crumbs, seasoning, salt and pepper. Spray the eggplant slices with cooking spray and coat in the crumbs (set aside leftover crumbs). Layer on a baking sheet and bake 10 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 375ºF. Set eggplant aside to cool slightly.

Combine cottage cheese (or ricotta) with egg, seasoning, 1 cup mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

In a 9x13 dish, add 1 cup of sauce to bottom of the dish. Layer 3 noodles along the bottom. Add half of the cottage cheese mixture on top of the noodles. Layer the eggplant on top. Add a 1/3 cup of the remaining mozzarella in a think layer. Top with 1 cup sauce. Repeat layers - noodles, cottage cheese, eggplant, cheese, sauce. Top with the last 3 noodles, remaining sauce, and remaining 1/3 cup of cheese. Sprinkle top with the leftover breadcrumbs, if desired. Bake at 375ºF for 20 minutes or until cheese golden brown and lasagna is bubbly. Let set 10 minutes. Serve immediately.