Eggplant Parma-Lasagna: The Recipe

Oops, I forgot to post this recipe yesterday as promised. But, after finishing up the leftover for lunch today I was reminded how good it really was and wanted to make sure I share it.

1 eggplant
1 egg
1 cup breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cup tomato sauce
2 cups cooked pasta such as campanelle, fusilli, or rotini
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated cheese mozzarella*
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut eggplant into cubes. Place cubes in a colander in a bowl and toss with salt. Set eggplant aside for at least half and hour. Rinse eggplant and dry it a clean dishtowel.

In a medium sized bowl, lightly beat an egg. Add eggplant to bowl and toss to coat each cube. Remove eggplant, leaving the excess egg. Place eggplant in a bowl with breadcrumbs and toss to coat.

Preheat a frying pan. Add olive oil and then place breaded eggplant cubes into the pan. Discard excess breadcrumbs. Sauté eggplant until it is light golden brown on all sides. Remove from pan and allow to drain on a paper-towel lined plate.

In a large bowl add eggplant, pasta, tomato sauce, ricotta cheese, and half of the mozzarella. Toss to thoroughly combine all ingredients, and then place in a nine-inch square-baking dish. Top with the additional mozzarella.

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake until the top is brown.

* Gouda is what I used this week, but if I were making this dish from specifically, I'd go for the traditional lasagna fixing.