So, I couldn’t technically call this dish a lasagna, because I did not use pasta. I used eggplant strips layered with parmesan, mozzarella, tomato sauce, and… SPICY ITALIAN SAUSAGE!!!! (the best part of the dish, in my opinion) I actually found hot Italian poultry sausage at Wegmans. I took the sausage out of the casing and browned it. It actually worked quite well! It looks like a meat lasagna in the pictures.. but there is NO PASTA!
Honestly, I hate when people say I “don’t eat carbs” because if someone is watching what they’re eating or trying to lose weight, I would never tell them to “cut out carbs”. I LOVE CARBOHYDRATES! I love gluten. I love cake. I love toast, waffles, and pancakes. I just eat the RIGHT kind of carbohydrates. Vegetables and fruits are complex carbohydrates. If you think bread is the only carb source out there, you’re wrong! I go for whole grain, vegetables, fruits, beans, quinoa, and farro to name a few healthy carbs. Anyway, onto the important stuff – the recipe!
RECIPE: (serves 2-3 people)
- 3 links hot or mild Italian poultry sausage (or regular hot Italian sausage), meat taken out of the casing
- 1 medium eggplant
- 1 15 oz jar tomato sauce, store bought (my favorite brand of pizza/spaghetti sauce is L.E. Roselli’s – found it at Wegmans)
- 1 cup grated mozzarella
- 1 cup grated parmesan
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
INSTRUCTIONS:
- preheat oven to 400 degrees
- in a skillet on medium-high heat, brown the sausage with olive oil (try to break it up just like ground beef)
- cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally
- peel and slice eggplant very thinly longways
- in a 5 x 8 baking dish, layer tomato sauce on the bottom
- top with a layer of eggplant
- spread another layer of sauce on top
- sprinkle about 1/4 cup mozzarella & 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- spread 1/2 of the sausage on top of the cheese
- repeat once more
- finish the top off with one more layer of eggplant, sauce and cheese on top
- sprinkle 1/2 of the fresh basil on top
- cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes
- take the foil off and brown the top for another 5 minutes
- top with the rest of the fresh basil
- enjoy!
