Earlier this week we were having friends over for dinner to watch the Red Sox vs Tigers game and I wanted to try a new (and healthy) recipe. After some online searching I put together a few ideas and created this noddle-less eggplant lasagna. I was pretty apprehensive cooking a made up dish (that involved vegan cheese) for guests but I went for it and it was a hit! I wanted to make enough for everyone to have plenty for dinner, plus leftovers for MM and I to take for lunch the next day. The below recipe was for 2 dishes of lasagna but feel free to cut it in half and only make 1.

Ingredients:

• 3 Medium Eggplants
• 2-3 Pounds Turkey (one package was lean and one package was kosher)
• 3 Handfuls Spinach
• 1.5 Cups Chopped Mushroom
• ½ Package Trader Joe’s Vegan Cheese (you can of course use real cheese but I had a kosher guest plus my diary-free diet so we went with this imitation cheese instead)
• Tomato Sauce of your choice
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions:

First, thinly slice the eggplant length-wise. If you have a mandoline slicer, use it as the thinner the slices, the better. As you can see from my photos I do not own a mandoline slicer and really need to get one! Once the eggplant is cut, spray both sides with olive oil, place it on a baking sheet and put it in the oven at 400 degrees until they soften up (about 20 minutes).

While the eggplant is baking, brown the meat. I cooked it all the way through but since the whole dish will eventually go in the oven, this isn’t 100% necessary, I just happen to be very afraid of under-cooked meat.

In a separate pan, cook the chopped mushrooms and spinach until the spinach is cooked down and the mushrooms are soft. Mix this together with the browned meat.

Once all those components are ready, take a glass baking dish and place a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom, then layer your ingredients as you wish. My layers were eggplant, meat/veggie mixture, tomato sauce, cheese, eggplant, tomato sauce, cheese on top.

Cover your dish with tinfoil and place it in the oven at 375 degrees for about 30-54 minutes or until the mixture begins to bubble slightly. Once it is cooked to your liking, let it sit out of the oven for 10 minutes. Then it’s ready to eat!

This recipe is a great stand-in for when you’re craving lasagna but don’t want a heavy and high-card meal. If you do eat dairy, I’d recommend using ricotta and mozzarella. The vegan cheese worked well with this dish although I could barely taste it, which was fine.

For a healthy and warm meal, this gets an A in my book!