Personally, I find eggplants kind of unsettling…

Our first CSA box had eggplants in them (also peaches, summer squash, and lots of cherry tomatoes). They were weird and stripey, like this one except with more white. So this is what we made!

Eggplant Lasagna

• 2 medium eggplants, sliced lengthwise into 1/4 inch thick slices
• olive oil, salt, pepper
• 6 uncooked lasagna noodles (or enough for 2 layers, depending on the shape/size of your lasagnaware)
• 2 cups part-skim ricotta
• 1 cup grated parmesan
• 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 1 1/2 lbs ground turkey (or beefz, but turkey is healthier and does not produce as much liquid during browning)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 2 14 oz cans of diced tomatoes
• dried oregano
• 2 cups part-skim mozzarella, shredded

Preheat oven to 400˚F. Brush both sides of each slice of eggplant with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Place on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes, turning once.

Turn oven down to 350˚F. Now you have three quests: (1) Boil the lasagna noodles according to package directions (err on the side of less cooked, maybe a minute less than al dente). (2) Heat oil in a large skillet on medium-high, add the garlic and stir until it smells like garlic in your kitchen. :q Then add the turkey and brown thoroughly. Add the diced tomatoes and onions, mix together, and turn the heat down to medium. Sprinkle with oregano (and maybe salt) to taste. Reduce this for as long as you can stand, draining any excess liquid before it goes in the lasagna. (3) Combine ricotta, parmesan, and chopped basil in a bowl, mix thorougly. If it is not soft enough to run a fork through, add a little milk until it is.

Now, grease a baking dish (I forget how big ours is…), and layer it like this: (i) All of the eggplant, (ii) Half of the turkey/tomato stuff, (iii) Half of the ricotta stuff, (iv) Shredded mozzarella, (v) Noodles, (vi) The remaining turkey/tomato, (vii) The remaining ricotta, (viii) Mozzarella, (ix) Noodles, (x) Mozzarella. Bake uncovered* for 40 minutes, or until the top layer of mozzarella is browning nicely. :9 Cool 10 minutes, and serve.

*Lots of recipes recommend that you cover the lasagna with foil, then cook it 2/3 of the way, uncover it, and cook it the rest of the way, but Henry and I have found that this makes the lasagna watery and altogether unsatisfyingly “non-cohesive.” The method above made the lasagna stick together pretty well, and cooking it for a little longer might even help. Lasagna is a truly mysterious food! More experimentation is needed.