This Eggplant Lasagna Pie is packed with flavor. I used good cheeses and added in Italian hot sausage and some fresh cooked Spinach. I baked it in a Springform pan to give me nice slices for the freezer. This was the first time I have ever used the Barilla No Cook Lasagna noodles. They cooked great inside the pie. I used plenty of sauce which you need to do to "cook" the noodles inside the pie.
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 pound Hot Italian sausage
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (28 ounce) can Tomato Puree
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
1 Box Barilla Lasagna (Oven-Ready Noodles)
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 ½ teaspoons dried basil leaves
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon red pepper
1 ½ teaspoons salt, divided, or to taste
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 Medium sized eggplant
1/4 cup milk
Container of Breadcrumbs
Container of Vegetable Oil
16 ounces ricotta cheese, diced
3 eggs
1 pound mozzarella cheese, diced
¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Bag of Spinach, cooked and drained
RECIPE:
In a Dutch oven, onion and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and tomato sauce. Season with sugar, basil, Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Fry up Sausage meat in skillet with a splash of olive oil until browned. Drain on paper towels.
Peel eggplant. Slice eggplant in thin to medium slices the long way. Fill 2 bowls. One bowl with the milk and 2 eggs and mix well. The other bowl with a good amount of breadcrumbs. Dip each slice in the egg mix and then cover both sides with breadcrumbs. Fry in oil until lightly browned and turn and brown the other side. Drain on paper towels and continue browning until all are done. Make sure you tap the top of each piece with a paper towel to remove the oil after the browning.
In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with one egg, remaining parsley, a 1/2 teaspoon salt and blend.
You should have all your ingredients ready and now it is time to build your dinner.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of sauce in the bottom of a Springform Pan. Arrange a single layer of eggplant over sauce.
Spread with about 5 Tbsp of the ricotta cheese mixture. Spoon some sauce over cheese. Add in a nice big handful of Mozzarella and Spinach and scatter some cooked sausage in there too. Add in a layer of lasagna noodles with sauce on top.
Sprinkle more mozzarella cheese and more ricotta on top. Sprinkle a good handful of sausage. Add a little more sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, ending with the top layer, which you sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella, Sausage and Parmesan cheese.
Cover pan with foil. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 30 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in pan before releasing the latch on the springform pan. Enjoy!!
A slice of delicious!
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