Inspired by Rhodey Girl Test’s Zucchini Nonsagna, I set out to create a similar but different dish based on what the Runleangreen family enjoys. Matt is not the biggest fan of zucchini so I knew I couldn’t have zucchini be the star ingredient. Instead, I used the following vegetables I picked up from the Farmers’ Market on Saturday
1 squash, 2 eggplants and 2 zucchini.
First I peeled and sliced the eggplant using my mandolin – I made the slices probably about 3/8 inch thick.
I then salted both sides of the eggplant and let them hang out for about 20 minutes to sweat the bitterness out. While the eggplant was sweatin, I peeled and sliced the zucchini and squash.
Next I got to work on some other key ingredients to this dish.
and
The spinach had been out on my counter for a little while defrosting. In a small bowl, I mixed together 15 oz of ricotta cheese, the egg and some dried basil and oregano. I then squeezed the liquid out of the spinach using a dish towel and mixed the spinach with the ricotta/egg/spice mixture.
Next, I grated 1/2 the block of mozzarella cheese. I then set all this aside.
Moving back to the eggplant, I rinsed the eggplant (to get rid of the excess salt) and put it between two dishtowels to dry. Then I got the assembly line ready.
I took out my leftover marinara sauce from Saturday. In my 9×13 pan, I layered some sauce, 1/2 the eggplant, some ricotta mixture and mozzarella cheese. Next layer was sauce, zucchini and squash, more ricotta mixture and mozzarella cheese. The last layer was sauce, eggplant, remaining ricotta mixture and mozzarella cheese – I then added a thin layer of sauce.
I covered my dish with some aluminum foil and placed it into a 375 degree preheated oven for 45 minutes. I then took the foil off, raised the temperature to 400 and let it bake for another 10 minutes. Lastly, I turned the broiler on and let it cook for an additional 5 minutes.
Look at this!
Enough food to feed an army!
Matt and I enjoyed this dish. Some of the veggies were a little thick and crunchy – if I made this again, I would probably roast all of the veggies first for a few minutes to start the cooking process (this would shorten the baking time). I didn’t miss the noodles in this lasagna and the spinach/ricotta/dried basil and oregano added a great flavor to the mix.
Look at my portion.
On the side I served a Pepperidge Farm Whole Wheat deli flat toasted with a little bit of garlic powder (aka garlic bread)
There is probably 2/3 of this dish left – lots of leftovers for lunch or dinner this week!
September 7, 2009: Support a Cause you Believe In!
My sister, Laura, is a Elementary Special Ed teacher. She does amazing work with her students and is very passionate about what she does. Tomorrow is her first day back at school and in her honor I made a donation to Slow Food USA. I was impressed and excited about their Time for Lunch Campaign which aims to give schools the ability to serve real food at lunch and to link local schools to local farms. There were many “Eat-Ins” today – 307 in fact – held to raise awareness. Even if you don’t want to donate money to the cause, stop by the website and sign the petition.
For the month of September, Slow Food is running a membership drive. Instead of requiring a $60 donation to become a member, any donation will give you a one year membership. I have become a member of Slow Food and hope to get involved in my local chapter.
Back to work tomorrow – at least it is a short week (well kind of…I have to work on Saturday). Have a good night.
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I’ve been seeing lots of these noodle-less lasagnas lately and have had 2 eggplants set aside to do the same thing this week. Looks delicious!
I’ve been drooling over Rhodeygirl’s dish and now you do this to me?! Great recipe. Thanks for sharing
I highly recommend the lasagna – Matt is even enjoying it – and he isn’t the biggest veggie lover.
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