Gluten free lasagna and it’s vegetarian…
Wow, that was one devastating blow by hurricane Sandy. My heart goes out to all the victims and truly hope that things are going to be normal soon. It’s good to see people working hard around the clock to restore everything. My hearty prayers East Coast!
Who would say no to lasagna? I love it and my man loves it more. However, owing to his gluten intolerance I don’t make this quite often now. Lately, I’ve been craving for lasagna and I even wanted my husband to enjoy it. So, I decided to use eggplant instead of pasta, layered it with mushroom-spinach sauce, topped with cheddar cheese, baked it and broiled it for a minute. This bubbly vegetarian gluten free lasagna tasted incredibly good.
Eggplant Lasagna
Ingredients
To Roast eggplant:
- American Eggplant, medium- 3, cut lengthwise
- Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp/batch
- Salt- 1/2 tsp
- Olive oil- 2 tbsp/batch
For making Mushroom-spinach sauce
- Olive oil- 1 tbsp
- Mushroom, sliced- 1 pack
- Spinach- 1 bunch
- Dried basil- 1/2 tsp
- Dried oregano- 1/2 tsp
- Ground black pepper- 1/2 tsp
- Tomato paste, low-sodium- 4 tbsp (or use 1/4 cup tomato sauce)
- Water- 1/4 cup
- Salt- 1 tsp
Other ingredients:
- Cheddar cheese- generous amount
Instruction
Roasting eggplant:
- Use American eggplants, I used 3 medium ones. Cut the eggplant 1 inch thick lengthwise.
- Heat a large wide non-stick pan over medium heat.
- Drizzle 2 tbsp olive oil/batch, place the eggplants without crowding.
- Sprinkle 1/4 tsp ground pepper and salt over the eggplant.
- Pan fry till both sides turn light golden in color.
- Remove the eggplants from the pan and keep them aside.
Making mushroom-spinach sauce:
- In the same pan used for pan-frying eggplant, add olive oil.
- Add mushroom, saute for a couple of minutes.
- Add spinach, cook for a couple of minutes.
- Add dried basil, dried oregano, ground pepper, and salt, combine well and cook till mushrooms have turned tender.
- Add tomato paste, combine well.
- Add water, mix it up well.
- Allow the sauce to cook for a few minutes, let the sauce thicken up a bit.
- The sauce shouldn’t be watery.
- Remove the pan from the heat, let cool down a bit.
Assembling the lasagna
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Grease a medium-sized baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
- Place some of the pan-fried eggplants as the first layer.
- As the second layer, spread half of the mushroom-spinach sauce over the eggplant layer.
- Again, layer with pan-fried eggplant and spread the sauce over it.
- On the top, layer with eggplant. In total, there are 3 layers of eggplant and 2 layers of sauce.
- Top with generous amount of cheese.
- Place the baking dish in the oven on the lower rack and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, turn on the broil to low heat and place the baking dish on the top rack, broil for 30 to 45 seconds till cheese turns golden in color.
- Don’t broil more than a minute as the cheese would burn.
- Remove the pan from the oven, let cool down a bit.
- Using a knife cut into thick slices, lift the slice using a flat spatula and serve on a plate.
- This can be served along with some crispy baguettes or warm bread.
Tips
- You can add any kind of veggies to make the sauce.
- Add tomato sauce instead of tomato paste.
Eggplant Lasagna- with Mushroom-Spinach Sauce
Author: Thas
Ingredients
To Roast eggplant:
- American Eggplant, medium- 3, cut lengthwise
- Ground black pepper- ¼ tsp/batch
- Salt- ½ tsp
- Olive oil- 2 tbsp/batch
For making Mushroom-spinach sauce
- Olive oil- 1 tbsp
- Mushroom, sliced- 1 pack
- Spinach- 1 bunch
- Dried basil- ½ tsp
- Dried oregano- ½ tsp
- Ground pepper- ½ tsp
- Tomato paste, low-sodium- 4 tbsp (or use ¼ cup tomato sauce)
- Water- ¼ cup
- Salt- 1 tsp
Other ingredients:
- Cheddar cheese, grated
Instructions
Roasting eggplant:
- Use American eggplants, I used 3 medium ones. Cut the eggplant 1 inch thick lengthwise.
- Heat a large wide non-stick pan over medium heat.
- Drizzle 2 tbsp olive oil/batch, place the eggplants without crowding.
- Sprinkle ¼ tsp ground pepper and salt over the eggplant.
- Pan fry till both sides turn light golden in color.
- Remove the eggplants from the pan and keep them aside.
Making mushroom-spinach sauce:
- In the same pan used for pan frying eggplant, add olive oil.
- Add mushroom, saute for a couple of minutes.
- Add spinach, cook for a couple of minutes.
- Add dried basil, dried oregano, ground pepper and salt, combine well and cook till mushrooms have turned tender.
- Add tomato paste, combine well.
- Add water, mix it up well.
- Allow the sauce to cook for a few minutes and let the sauce thicken up a bit.
- The sauce shouldn't be watery.
- Remove the pan from the heat and let cool down for a bit.
Assembling the lasagna
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Grease a medium sized baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
- Place some of the pan fried eggplants as the first layer.
- As the second layer, spread half of the mushroom-spinach sauce over the eggplant layer.
- Again, layer with pan fried eggplant and spread the sauce over it.
- On the top, layer with eggplant. In total, there are 3 layers of eggplant and 2 layers of sauce.
- Top with generous amount of cheese.
- Place the baking dish in the oven on the lower rack and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, turn on the broil to low heat and place the baking dish on top rack, broil for 30 to 45 seconds till cheese turns golden in color.
- Don't broil more than a minute as the cheese would burn.
- Remove from the oven and let cool down a bit.
- Using a knife cut into thick slices, lift the slice using a flat spatula and serve on a plate.
- This can be served along with some crispy baguettes or warm bread.
Notes
You can add any kind of veggies to make the sauce.
Add tomato sauce instead of tomato paste.
Add tomato sauce instead of tomato paste.
