Eggplant Lasagna (Lazy Girl's Rollatini)

I love eggplant rollatini, but frankly it's too much trouble to make except for special occasions. It also requires frying the breaded eggplant--something I rarely do. A simple solution is to take the same ingredients and put them together in a different way. This eggplant lasagna has the same ingredients as eggplant rollatini, but the eggplant is breaded and oven-fried, making it a lighter option.

Serves 4-6

1 large eggplant

1 egg plus 1 egg white

1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs

olive oil nonstick spray

1 lb part skim ricotta

1/4 cup grated pecorino romano

1 egg

3 tbs chopped parsley

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

1 jar Bertolli vodka sauce (or your favorite sauce)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray 2 baking sheets with olive oil nonstick spray. Beat the egg and egg white. Peel the eggplant and slice it into 1/4 inch rounds. (I prefer to salt both sides of the eggplant, leave it for 1 hour, rinse in cold water, and dry thoroughly. I do this to take any bitterness out of the eggplant, but you may wish to skip this step).

Dip each slice in the egg mixture, then in the breadcrumbs. Place on the baking sheets, then spray each slice with the olive oil nonstick spray. Bake for 15 minutes, turn slices, spray, and bake for 15 minutes more. The slices should be lightly browned and crispy as in this photo.

While the eggplant is baking, mix the ricotta,grated cheese, egg, parsley, garlic powder, and most of the shredded mozzarella together. Place a few tablespoons of sauce in the bottom of an 8 inch square glass baking dish. Fit some eggplant slices to cover the bottom. Cover with sauce, then spread all the cheese mixture over that. Fit the remaining eggplant slices over the cheese, top with sauce, and sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven, uncovering for the last 10 minutes of baking. Let set for 10 minutes, then serve.

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TASTE NOTES

What I love about this dish is that it combines my two favorite eggplant preparations in one--eggplant parmigiana and eggplant rollatini. It serves 4 very generously or 6 with a small side of pasta.