Eggplant Lasagna

This lasagna uses grilled eggplant slices instead of lasagna noodles. It has layers of thick, hearty meat sauce and a delicious mix of mozzarella and feta cheese. This is the definition of comfort food, and also an amazing dish to serve if you’re entertaining a crowd.

I had a whole internal monologue about whether I should call this dish lasagna or moussaka, since the latter is essentially a Mediterranean version of lasagna that uses eggplant instead of noodles. But then again I use shredded cheese instead of béchamel sauce… although I do use feta, which is a Mediterranean flavour… but then I used ground turkey, which is pretty North Americanized… and then I decided that the internal monologue had gone far enough and I was beginning to question my sanity. Lasagna shmasagna… let’s get cookin’!

Quick Facts: If you don’t have a countertop grill or a panini press (remember this recipe?), throw the eggplant slices on the barbeque! That is, of course, if you’re not backyard-challenged (aka living in an apartment!)

Directions

Eggplant “noodles”

• Using a countertop grill or a panini press, grill the eggplant slices until tender. Place aside onto a large plate.

Meat sauce

• In a large skillet, heat up butter and sauté onions and mushrooms until tender. Add in the ground turkey and spices and cook, breaking apart the turkey into small pieces.
• Once the meat is almost cooked, add in Roma tomatoes and fresh herbs. Cook at a low simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated – this can take anywhere from 20-40 minutes.

Assembly

• Preheat oven to 350° F.
• Place a single layer of eggplant slices into a large glass baking dish. On top of this, add a layer of meat sauce (about half the sauce). Add another layer of eggplant slices and top with about half of the shredded cheese and half the crumbled feta.
• Top this with the rest of the meat sauce. Finish with a final layer of eggplant and top with the second half of the shredded cheese and crumbled feta.
• Bake for 15 minutes, until everything is warmed through and the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Instead of boiling noodles, grill some eggplant! It adds a whole lotta flavour and is sophreakin’ good!

Ingredients

• 2 medium eggplants, thinly sliced
• 2-3 tbsp butter or ghee
• 1 large sweet onion, finely diced
• 6-7 cremini or button mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1 kg ground turkey, beef, veal or pork
• several pinches of good quality salt (such as Himalayan pink salt or Herbamare®)
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp ground coriander
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• 1 can peeled Roma tomatoes (28 oz), blended with an immersion blender
• handful of fresh parsley (or basil), finely chopped
• about 3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
• about 1 cup feta cheese, crumbled