Cheesy Spinach and Eggplant Lasagna

A wonderful and healthy lasagna recipe for those vegetarian and vegan. It’s a great dish suitable for both meat eaters and vegetarians.

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 12 whole wheat lasagna noodles, dry
• 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 (28 ounce) can Italian herb-flavored tomato sauce
• 1 eggplant, cubed
• 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
• 2 1/2 cups frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

How to Cook

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Boil a large pot of water.
2. Into the boiling water, place the lasagna noodles and add 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Cook until noodles are tender for about 8 minutes. Drain and allow the noodles to cool.
3. Heat in a large skillet over medium heat a 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cook and stir the garlic and eggplant chunks for about 7 minutes or until eggplant is partially cooked.
4. Pour into the skillet the tomato sauce and simmer until eggplant is tender for about 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Combine in a bowl the cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, salt, egg and black pepper. Then mix the spinach into ricotta cheese mixture.
6. Spread into the bottom of a 9×12-inch baking dish a layer of tomato sauce mixture. Place on top of the sauce 4 noodles. Scoop the 1/3 of the remaining tomato sauce over noodles. Then spread over the tomato sauce 1/3 of the ricotta mixture.
7. Repeat this procedure, starting with noodles and following with sauce and ricotta mixture. Top the lasagna with mozzarella cheese.
8. Bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour in preheated oven until the ricotta filling is set and mozzarella cheese topping is lightly browned.

Enjoy!