Eggplant and Asparagus Lasagna

So one night this week I looked in my fridge and discovered that I had asparagus, eggplant and ground beef that I needed to use so I decided to make an eggplant lasagna. I used the eggplant in place of using noodles in trying to make it a little bit healthier. The result of the combination of these ingredients became a cheesy, meaty, vegetable dish of deliciousness. Because I can never just stick to one recipe the following is a combination of a few different recipes that I found on foodnetwork.com as well as my own ideas put in as well. The amazing thing about lasagna is that there are so many different ways that you can make it. You can add different kinds of vegetables, mushrooms, meat or no meat. It is one of those dishes that is hard to mess up.  As you will see below you can use ingredients that you may already have in your fridge and pantry and just mix and match to your heart's content. Follow the recipe below or add and subtract as you would like

Recipe:

1 pound ground beef (you could also use turkey or lamb)

1 medium onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, diced

Chopped fresh herbs to taste (I used thyme, rosemary, basil and oregano...you can also use dried herbs)

2 bunch of asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 bottle of your favorite marinara sauce

2 large eggplant, sliced lengthwise, about ¾ inch

1 cup of grated parmesan cheese

1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese

2 cups shredded whole milk mozzarella cheese

Cayenne pepper (optional) if you like to have it a little spicy

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a baking dish on all sides, I recommend using an olive oil spray. Spread enough of the marinara sauce to cover the bottom of the dish. You want just enough so that it covers the bottom of the dish.

After slicing the eggplant brush both sides with olive oil and season them with salt and pepper. I cooked them on the grille until they are cooked and tender. You could also cook them in a pan if you like. The point is to go ahead and cook them so that it cuts down on the time that the lasagna is in the oven. Grilling them adds that wonderful slightly smoky flavor to the lasagna

In a large skillet add olive oil, your chopped onion and the garlic. Make sure you season each layer with a little salt and pepper to ensure that each layer has flavor. The salt and pepper also helps to break down the onions and garlic. Cook this until you can smell the garlic and then add the ground beef. Cook the ground beef until it is almost cooked all the way through and then add the chopped herbs and a little salt and pepper along with the cayenne pepper if you choose. Stir this all together and then add in the asparagus. Make sure that you stir the asparagus into the ground beef so it is covered in the juices and flavors from the ground beef and herbs. You want to cook this until the asparagus is cooked. It will turn bright green and be tender but not mushy. You don't want mushy asparagus.

Meanwhile combine the ricotta cheese and the rest of the marinara sauce. Once the beef and asparagus are cooked add this to the ricotta and marinara sauce. Stir these together until everything is coated in the ricotta. Taste this mixture to make sure that the seasoning is where you want it to be. You may need to add more salt and pepper.

After all of this is combined together it is time to put together the lasagna. Place slices of eggplant on top of the marinara sauce, then add the ricotta/beef mixture. On top of this put some of the shredded mozzarella and then Parmesan cheese and then repeat The size of your baking dish will determine how many layers you will do. 

On the top of the lasagna add the rest of the Parmesan cheese and then drizzle with olive oil to help create a wonderful brown cheesy crust. Bake until the insides are warm and there is a brown and cheesy crust. After you take the lasagna out of the oven you want to let it set for a few minutes so that the juices and sauce can set.

You can pair this with some other kind of vegetable or a nice green salad with a light dressing. This is definitely a new favorite in my family! 

Buon Appetito!