Lazy Eggplant Lasagna
Hi everyone!
First off: I am so so sorry to anyone who commented on previous posts that I haven’t gotten back to. Comments weren’t being delivered to my inbox, but thank you for stopping by – it seriously makes my day hearing from each and every one of you! 
Okay now onto the food. More specifically, the recipe that I promised you all yesterday….Lazy Eggplant Lasagna.
I don’t know about you but lasagna always seemed to me like this overly-complicated meal that was only saved for special occasions because it was so labor intensive. I can be a very lazy chef at times (okay, most of the time), so I always shied away from making this dish.
The problem is, this Italian girl craves lasagna more than just on special occasions, so I came up with this quick and easy, simple and healthy version of homemade lasagna.
Lazy Eggplant Lasagna
Ingredients:
-1 large thinly sliced eggplant (or 2 small)
-1 cup Nona’s Homemade Italian Marinara Gravy (Sauce) …..or any sauce of your choice
-1 cup shredded nonfat mozzarella cheese
-2/3 cup nonfat ricotta cheese
-3-4 large thinly sliced tomatoes
-Italian seasoning
-Salt and pepper
Note: Can add some extra lean ground turkey/chicken/veggie meat
Directions:
Step 1: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Slice eggplant lengthwise and place in baking tray to roast for 20 minutes.
Step 2: Spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Layer the bottom with the roasted eggplant slices.
Step 3: Pour a generous portion of Nona’s Homemade Italian Marinara Gravy (or marinara of your choice) over the eggplant
Step 4: Add thinly sliced tomatoes
Step 5: Top with ricotta
Step 6: Layer with a coat of mozzarella cheese and sprinkle Italian seasoning over the top. 
Step 7: Continue to repeat layers until you run out of ingredients. Finish with mozzarella on top.
Step 8: Bake for 15-20 minutes. For an extra cheesy top, place under the broiler after it bakes to melt the mozzarella.
Step 9: Cut your yourself a nice ooey-gooey, delicious slice of eggplant lasagna, pour yourself a nice glass of wine, and enjoy!
All together now.
It’s beneficial to try and incorporate at least one meatless meal a week into your daily routine to cut back on saturated fat found in most meat (particularly red). If the idea of going vegetarian for the night seems foreign to you, this is a great recipe to try! It’s hearty, filling, flavorful, and bursting with healthy vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
Here are some simple facts on the health benefits of tomatoes:
-Contains the phytonutrient, lycopene, proven to fight free radicals in the body that cause cancer and other various diseases
-Organic and darker colored tomatoes have the highest amount of lycopene
-Eating tomatoes have more anti-cancer effects than consuming lycopene alone
-Excellent source of Vitamin C and A
-High in fiber, potassium, folate, niacin, and vitamin B6 to help lower cholesterol and blood pressure, maintain blood sugar levels, and reduce risk of heart disease
-Contain Vitamin K to promote bone health (prevent osteoporosis)
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Hope you enjoy! I’ll be back later today to announce the winner of the Julie&Julia giveaway, and show you what interesting new food I’ve been eating to reduce those awful dark, under-eye circles
Kristen – This is awesome! I’ve been dying to make an eggplant lasanga so I’m so happy to have this recipe! I’m definitely going to try it out in the coming weeks
Looks delish!
WOW! That looks fabulous!
The first (and last/!?!?!) time I made eggplant – I tried to “salt it” to get the bitter out and it was a disaster! Everyone’s response was to try it as eggplant parm, and your recipe is so easy! I definitely need to try it out!
Kristen- I have to try this!!! I can be a very lazy chef too, but this looks like even on one of my ‘lazy’ days, something I could easily tackle
That last picture is so cute… it looks like Thanksgiving hehe
mmm this looks so good–I love eggplant lasagna!
This looks so good! I love having at least 1 meatless meal per week (good for the body & the wallet!) I love the colorful pics too
oooh great point about going veg for a night being good for the wallet!!
Ah! That looks so so good. I adore eggplant and lasagna…together=perfection! Thanks for the recipe love
That looks delicious! I’ve never actually tried eggplant before, but I think I’ll love this
This eggplant lasagna looks sooo yummy! Chicken parm is one of my husband’s favorite meals, but I’ve gotten him hooked on eggplant parm as well. There’s something about the soft texture of baked eggplant that can’t be beat
That’s definitley a simple meal I know I can do!! Looks great
Good, fast vegetarian meal for the weekdays.
I’ve been trying to cook vegetarian food at least once a week but that plan’s not going so well haha.
Your Eggplant Lasgana looks delish!
I love your blog!
this sounds like such a great dish! and i love the addition of fresh tomatoes in there
Hmmm, looks so yummy and easy! I love eggplant and I just recently found out that you have to salt it before cooking it in order to get rid of that bitter taste…duh! Where have I been?
wow, what a great idea to use eggplant instead of pasta! if you have any more great fitness/health tips, i would love to feature one on my blog: FitTipExchange.wordpress.com
Yum Yum Yum! I love eggplant lasagna, yours looks awesome!
i have to be honest…i haven’t tried an eggplant dish that ive liked yet. but this looks so intriguing…i may have to give it another go! thanks for your work and time to post this.
i never think to pick up eggplant when im at the grocery store, but every time I cook with it, i always ask myself why I don’t eat this more because its so good!
Kristen this looks incredible!!! Your recipes always look so good. I love ricotta cheese…so those little ricotta cheese blobs…mmm!
yum! that looks so delish! i have to try
This looks so good! I have never tried eggplant lasagna or parm or anything like that. I am saving this recipe for when my husband is out of town (hes not a big eggplant guy). Thank you for the recipe
mm yum! I loveee lasagna! Definitely will be trying this recipe sometime
YUM! This looks so good. I adore eggplant. I also saw a recipe for eggplant canaloni where you use the eggplant in place of the noodles that I have been wanting to try. Here is the recipe http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Eggplant-Cannelloni-240811
eggplant covered in cheese and sauce — sounds like a winner in my book!
that lasagna is OUT OF CONTROL! so fresh and the tomatos have my mouth watering. wait i think i spelled tomatoes wrong lol. what was your inspiration to make this?
I made this dish last night! It was terrific. The only change I made was that I left it in the oven longer– about 45 minutes, so that the eggplant and tomatoes were nice and soft. Next time, I may add a layer of frozen spinach! (Frozen seems to work better than fresh in lasagna because it retains it’s moisture better.)
Thanks for the recipe!!