A combination of roasted eggplant and zucchini with traditional lasagna ingredients makes for a delightfully flavorful and mellow baked dish.

Ingredients
For vegetable filling
1 globe eggplant (1-1.5 lbs)
2 zucchini squash
1 cup chopped, raw spinach

For cheese filling
8 oz ricotta
1 cup shreded mozzarella
Parmesan or asiago to taste
1 large egg (beaten)

For sauce
Prepared tomato sauce of choice (I use a garlic mushroom)
.5 lb lean ground meat (I used beef)
1 cup diced mushrooms

.5 package whole wheat lasagna noodles
Olive oil

Method

1. Slice zucchini and eggplant into 2 inch thick slices. Salt liberally with kosher salt and let stand for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425F and oil a half sheet pan.

2. Wipe excess salt and water from the zucchini and eggplant and arrange in a single layer, flesh-side up, on the pan and brush or spray with oil. Place into the lower half of the oven for 20 minutes, turning the pan once, until flesh is soft, golden brown, and skin is wrinkled.

3. While vegetables are roasting, prepare cheese filling: mix 1/2 of the mozzarella with all of the ricotta and the egg in a small bowl until thoroughly combined.

4. While vegetables are roasting, prepare the sauce: Brown the meat and mushrooms, adding the prepared sauce and reducing heat to low. The sauce should have an excess of liquid– add vinegar, dry red wine, or broth to thin if necessary.

5. Return to the roasted vegetables after they are cool enough to handle. Scrape the eggplant flesh from the skin, chopping into rough cubes where the flesh is still firm. Grate the zucchini and squeeze excess water out (another excellent thinning liquid for the sauce). Combine the grated zucchini, eggplant flesh, and spinach in a mixing bowl.

6. Build the lasagna: Layer the following in a well-oiled, half-sized casserole:

• 2/3 of the vegetable filling
• raw lasagna noodles to cover
• 2/3 of the cheese filling
• raw lasagna noodles to cover
• mixture of remaining cheese & vegetable fillings
• half of the meat sauce
• Raw lasagna noodles to cover
• remaining sauce
• Remaining mozzarella cheesse, with parm or asiago to taste

7. Allow lasagna to sit for at least 30 minutes so the noodles can begin to soften.

8. Place lasagna, uncovered, in a 350F oven for 45 minutes, or until top is golden brown and bubbly. Allow 10-15 minutes to cool and set after removing from the oven before cutting.

I had planned to freeze some of this, as there are only two people in my household, but it was so good, we ended up eating all of it over the course of a few days!

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