Fresh flavours of aubergine, basil and tomato combine with a rich ricotta cheese filling and layers of lasagne, for a hearty and delicious vegetarian dish.
I recently bought a couple of aubergines (eggplant) and some ricotta and mozzarella cheeses as part of my weekly shop. I had a solid plan for what I was going to do with them. The idea was to stuff the aubergines with a mega-cheesy filling and then bake them. But the more I thought about it, the more that wasn’t what I wanted to eat. So, with the kitchen clock counting down to dinnertime, I had to come up with something else. And quickly.
Lasagne opportunity
Having not made a lasagne for ages, I thought this might be a good opportunity. Ricotta cheese is always a good choice in a lasagne, and everyone in this house loves aubergines. Plus, it’s a one dish meal – easy. Decision made.
However, DH is diabetic, and it’s hard for him to eat lasagne, because working out the amount of carbohydrate in a single serving can be quite difficult. So this time, I made three individual aubergine lasagnes. I weighed out the quantity of pasta in each one before assembling them. That way, he would know exactly how much carbohydrate he was eating.
Big or small – it’s still lasagne!
Of course, if you’re not catering for a diabetic, you probably don’t need to go to this kind of length, and could just as easily make one big lasagne for everyone to share.
Although there’s something quite nice about having your own personal dish of delicious aubergine lasagne. And everyone gets their own crispy edges – yum!
Individual tastes
Making individual ricotta and aubergine lasagnes also meant I could cater for my daughter Kipper’s recent (and hopefully temporary) aversion to tomato sauce.
To make her portion, I simply skipped the tomato sauce layers and added more of the cheese mixture. I was slightly worried that the pasta wouldn’t cook properly without the moisture from the tomato sauce. However she seemed to yum it down with no problems, so I think we can assume it was fine. Aubergines are one of her favourite things in the world though.
Delicious flavours
This ricotta and aubergine lasagne was full of summer flavours – tomato, basil, and aubergine. Plus the ricotta cheese and melty mozzarella made it filling and hearty enough to need no accompaniment. However if you did want something on the side, a simple green salad or some steamed green vegetables would be all that was required.
Ricotta and aubergine lasagne
The ricotta and aubergine lasagne took just over an hour to make. However I’m confident you could do it in less than an hour if you didn’t also have a small person demanding snacks, stickers, someone to pick up the thing she’s dropped on the floor, etc etc…
The recipe makes 3 individual ricotta and aubergine lasagnes.
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📖 Recipe
Aubergine and ricotta lasagne
Ingredients
For the tomato sauce
- 2 medium onions
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
- Handful fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces.
For the aubergine
- 1 large aubergine (eggplant) – about 500g (approx. 17½ oz) in total (You can use more smaller aubergines if necessary)
- 1-2 tablespoon olive oil
For the ricotta filling
- 250 g ricotta cheese
- 1 large egg
- pinch ground black pepper
To assemble
- 4-6 sheets lasagne
- 2 balls mozzarella, cut into 5mm (approx. ¼ inch) slices
Instructions
- First make the tomato sauce. Peel and finely chop the onions. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Fry the onions for a few minutes until soft, then add the garlic, crushed, and the chopped tomatoes. Stir well, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the heat and process briefly with a stick blender (optional) then stir in the torn basil leaves and set aside.
- Meanwhile, slice the aubergines into 1cm (approx. ½ inch) thick slices. Preheat the grill (broiler) to high. Brush the slices with olive oil on both sides, and arrange on a baking sheet. Grill (broil) for 3-4 minutes on each side until soft and browning.
- Combine the ricotta cheese, egg and black pepper and mix well.
To assemble the lasagnes
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Put 2 tablespoon of the tomato sauce into the bottom of each dish. Add a layer of pasta, followed by a layer of aubergine slices, then a layer of ricotta. Repeat the layers once more. Finally, arrange a layer of mozzarella slices on the top.
- Bake the lasagnes at 180°C (350°F) for 25-30 minutes until piping hot and browning on the top.
Nutrition
More delicious aubergine recipes
If you love aubergines (eggplants) as much as my family does, you might like to try this fabulous aubergine shakshuka, this delicious stuffed aubergine with bulgar wheat and pesto, and these wonderful and tasty hasselback aubergines with tomato & mozzarella.
I’m entering this delicious lasagne into the In my veg box – aubergines challenge, hosted by Full Scoops and organised by Citrusspiceuk.
Nayna Kanabar (@citrusspiceuk)
Looks delicious and very tasty
beulaharun
This looks so delicious! The cheese is making me drool!
Thanks for linking this recipe to The Veg Box Event!
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche
This looks absolutely gorgeous, love the bubbly cheese topping!
FFF
Thanks. I love gooey bubbly melted cheese too!