Ingredients
- 2 or 3 eggplants (2 if you're new, 3 if you like)
- Olive Oil
- large container of mushrooms, sliced (any kind or none at all)
- Fresh spinach (about 3 big handfuls, or 1 bag)
- 3-4 cups Sauce of choice, with or without meat (I make mine homemade with ground meat)
- Ricotta cheese, 1 container
- 2 Eggs
- 2+ cups Shredded Mozzarella (optional)
How to Do It
First, slice the eggplant lengthwise, thin, about 1/8th inch. You'll need olive oil to coat them, place flat on cookie sheets and bake at 375 for 10 minutes on each side. They should get a little golden, but not too dark around the edges. Make sure to coat them with the oil so they don't stick to the pans.
Slice the mushrooms if not already. Saute in butter until just softened. These can be added to your sauce to keep it simple.
Mix ricotta and eggs in a bowl. Spoon this mix into a plastic sandwich bag for easier distribution to the dish.
When all the eggplant is cooked, lower the oven temperature to 350`. Place a layer of eggplant in the bottom of a baking dish as you would noodles.
Add a layer of sauce and mushrooms, and a layer of spinach and mozzarella.
Cut the bottom corner the sandwich bag that contains the ricotta cheese. This way you can squeeze it from the bag much like an icing bag, making rows of cheese that will spread out with heat and other layers.
Repeat the layers until all ingredients are used. If you run out of eggplant, don't worry. The spinach does a nice job of acting in its place. Top the final bit with some cheese and pop it in the oven for about 45 minutes. Some recipes say to cover lasagna, some don't. I don't cover mine, but if you choose to, make sure to bake it with the foil off 10 minutes to the end to brown the cheese.
Let it sit for at least 10 minutes out of the oven to kind of set up. When making it with veggies, it tends to be more wet.
Enjoy!
