January 12, 2009
“The Garfield”- A Veggie Friendly “Meat” Lasagna with Eggplant Last night my dad and I were in the kitchen thinking of what we needed to get rid of in the fridge.  This is what we usually call an Iron Chef night, because we try to use up a bunch of different things and make 1 dish.  We saw and eggplant that needed to be used, so we decided to make a vegetarian friendly “meaty” lasagna.  The lasagna is packed with protein and flavor from the cheese, veggie meatballs and fresh basil. What you need: 1 Box Lasagna Noodles 1 Jar tomato sauce 1 Small container of Ricotta (I used part-skim) 1 Large eggplant sliced thin and steamed Shredded Mozzarella Cheese TVP or Veggie Meatballs (I used morning star farms meal starters and gardenburger brand veggie meatballs)- mash up to crumbled consistency Buffalo Mozzarella Italian Seasoning/Fresh Basil 9x13 baking dish Set Oven to 400 degrees 1. Cook lasagna noodles according to box.  Once cooked, be sure to keep them a little wet so they do not stick together.  Meanwhile, take ricotta and pour into bowl and add italian seasoning and fresh basil to mixture.  Thin the ricotta with a few tablespoons of water so it can easily be spread. 2. Lightly coat bottom of pan with tomato sauce. Lay three lasagna noodles along bottom so that they are barely touching along the edges.  Spread ricotta thinly across the noodles, make sure you have enough to do another layer.  Then take a few pieces of eggplant and spread across noodles. 3. Add next layer of noodles.  Cover noodles with a layer of sauce and then sprinkle the veggie meatballs or meal starters to cover entire layer.  Then top with shredded mozzarella cheese. 4. Repeat step 3 by doing another layer of ricotta and eggplant. 5. Repeat step 4 by doing another layer of sauce, protein but this time use diced buffalo mozzarella to cover layer. 6. Lay next layer of noodles.  Spread tomato sauce to cover layer then sprinkle and decent amount of shredded mozzarella to top the entire lasagna. 7. Cover the lasagna with tin foil (tent it so the cheese doesn’t stick to the foil).  Place pan on cookie sheet so if it boils over it doesn’t dirty your oven.  Place in oven for about 45 minutes-1 hour.  For the last 15 minutes you can remove the tin foil so that the cheese browns. *You can use any type of veggie such as zucchini or squash.  Make sure you steam it so that all the water comes out prior to putting it in the lasagna! **Be sure to join the Delish your Dish Facebook group to keep up with updates!!

“The Garfield”- A Veggie Friendly “Meat” Lasagna with Eggplant

Last night my dad and I were in the kitchen thinking of what we needed to get rid of in the fridge.  This is what we usually call an Iron Chef night, because we try to use up a bunch of different things and make 1 dish.  We saw and eggplant that needed to be used, so we decided to make a vegetarian friendly “meaty” lasagna.  The lasagna is packed with protein and flavor from the cheese, veggie meatballs and fresh basil.

What you need:

1 Box Lasagna Noodles

1 Jar tomato sauce

1 Small container of Ricotta (I used part-skim)

1 Large eggplant sliced thin and steamed

Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

TVP or Veggie Meatballs (I used morning star farms meal starters and gardenburger brand veggie meatballs)- mash up to crumbled consistency

Buffalo Mozzarella

Italian Seasoning/Fresh Basil

9x13 baking dish

Set Oven to 400 degrees

1. Cook lasagna noodles according to box.  Once cooked, be sure to keep them a little wet so they do not stick together.  Meanwhile, take ricotta and pour into bowl and add italian seasoning and fresh basil to mixture.  Thin the ricotta with a few tablespoons of water so it can easily be spread.

2. Lightly coat bottom of pan with tomato sauce. Lay three lasagna noodles along bottom so that they are barely touching along the edges.  Spread ricotta thinly across the noodles, make sure you have enough to do another layer.  Then take a few pieces of eggplant and spread across noodles.

3. Add next layer of noodles.  Cover noodles with a layer of sauce and then sprinkle the veggie meatballs or meal starters to cover entire layer.  Then top with shredded mozzarella cheese.

4. Repeat step 3 by doing another layer of ricotta and eggplant.

5. Repeat step 4 by doing another layer of sauce, protein but this time use diced buffalo mozzarella to cover layer.

6. Lay next layer of noodles.  Spread tomato sauce to cover layer then sprinkle and decent amount of shredded mozzarella to top the entire lasagna.

7. Cover the lasagna with tin foil (tent it so the cheese doesn’t stick to the foil).  Place pan on cookie sheet so if it boils over it doesn’t dirty your oven.  Place in oven for about 45 minutes-1 hour.  For the last 15 minutes you can remove the tin foil so that the cheese browns.

*You can use any type of veggie such as zucchini or squash.  Make sure you steam it so that all the water comes out prior to putting it in the lasagna!

**Be sure to join the Delish your Dish Facebook group to keep up with updates!!

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