HEARTY, HEALTHY & DELISH !
I am not a big fan of lasagna, but the idea of eggplant lasagna seemed delish so I gave this a try. And oh boy, was I happy. My whole family loved it ! If you want a gluten-free lasagna, you can give this a try. The vegan ricotta in it, which I did recently, is a bomb ! This one is good for 4 to 6 hungry people.
?RECIPE
? Ingredients:
FOR THE LENTIL FILLING:
▪︎few tbsp onion powder
▪︎2 tbsp garlic powder
▪︎1 cup carrot, finely diced
▪︎14 oz crushed tomatoes
▪︎¼ cup tomato paste
▪︎1 cup dry green lentils
▪︎2 cups vegetable broth
▪︎½ cup parsley, chopped; dried is ok
▪︎ ¼ cup basil, chopped; dried basil is ok
▪︎ Salt, to taste; opt for Himalayan
FOR THE LASAGNA:
▪︎ Lentil Filling, above
▪︎ 1 batch of Vegan Ricotta ( see https://butterflyvegan.com/vegan-ricotta/ )
▪︎ 1 ½ cup marinara sauce of choice
▪︎ 3 large or several small pieces of eggplant, cut into ⅓” rounds
?Instructions:
▪︎ Preheat the oven to 375F while you prepare all of the ingredients. Line 2-3 Baking Trays with parchment paper and fill each tray with the Eggplant rounds, so none are overlapping. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, then remove from the oven.
▪︎ In the meantime, make the Lentil filling by adding the garlic powder & onion powder to a large pot with the vegetable broth; bring to a boil & simmer covered for about 5 mins.
▪︎ Then, add the carrot, crushed tomatoes, and tomato paste to the pot, stirring well. Once everything is well incorporated, add the lentils, parsley, and basil. Bring everything to a boil, then cover and simmer over low for 30 minutes.
▪︎ Last step would be to layer the lasagna. Spread 1/2 cup of Marinara Sauce over the base of a large casserole dish.
▪︎ Cover it well with 1/3 of the Eggplant – try to overlap it as tightly as possible!
Layer 1: spread 1/2 of the cooked Lentil filling evenly across the Eggplant, followed by 1/3 of the Vegan Ricotta.
Layer 2: add another layer of Eggplant, then follow with the remainder of the Lentils and another 1/3 of the Ricotta
Top it Off: add the remainder of the Eggplant to the Casserole, followed by the rest of the Vegan Ricotta. Pour 1 cup of Marinara Sauce over the dish, and swirl it together with the Ricotta to complete the Lasagna.
▪︎ Bake the Lasagna at 375F for 35 minutes. Let the Lasagna sit for 10 minutes, then cut and serve as desired.
* Note:
▪︎ You can remove the skin of the eggplant if you’re a picky eater, but I didn’t have to in this recipe.
