Prep Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 1 hrs 45 mins
Servings: 4
About This Recipe
“Eggplant and ziti parmesan”
Ingredients
1 3/4 lbseggplants, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices
salt
8ouncesziti pasta
1tablespoonoil
1garlic clove, crushed( or more)
black pepper, freshly ground
1 1/3 cups part-skim ricotta cheese or 1 1/3 cupslow fat cottage cheese
1cupparmesan cheese, grated, divided
1/4 cup fresh parsley or 1tablespoondried parsley flakes, minced
1/2 teaspoondried basil
1/2 teaspoonoregano
1/4 teaspoonhot red pepper flakes(optional)
2cupstomato sauce( or more)
Directions
Sprinkle the eggplant with salt. Place the eggplant in a colander, and let it drain for 30 minutes.
Rinse the eggplant, and pat it dry.
Cook the ziti al dente according to the package directions.
Drain and rinse the pasta, and set it aside.Combine the oil and garlic, and smear it on the eggplant slices.
Then sprinkle the slices generously with pepper.
Broil the eggplant slices about 4 inches from the heat, turning them once, for a total of about 5 minutes.
(You may have to do this in 2 batches.)In a large bowl, combine the ricotta or cottage cheese, all but 2 tablespoons of the parmesan, the parsley, basil, oregano, and pepper flakes.
Toss the cheese mixture with the ziti.
On the bottom of a 2-= to 3 quart casserole, spread a thin layer of tomato sauce, add half the ziti mixture, then half the eggplant slices, then half the remaining tomato sauce. Repeat the ziti, eggplant, and sauce layers.
Top with the reserved 2 tablespoons of parmesan.
Cover the casserole, and bake it in a preheated 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.
Remove the cover, and bake the casserole for another 15 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.
.
Reviews
“A really good dish!I’m new to eggplant, so I actually used some already breaded eggplant slices (frozen – from Trader Joe’s), and that made this dish easier.I cut this down to a small size, for two and we really loved it.Thanks for posting.”
“Very yummy, but a bit labor intensive.Even after peeling, “draining” (not 1 drop drained), broiling, and baking the eggplant, it was still a bit tough to cut when I thought it should be fork tender.Maybe I went wrong somewhere.I also used about 3 cups tomato sauce and only cooked it for 35 minutes total.”
“Sackwell…I TOTALLY agree!This was a “different” sort of recipe for me!Used reduced fat parm, love that is low fat,Thanks for the recipe..and that is that! :)”
“Had this for tonight’s dinner. Followed directions and made no changes. Will make again. Great recipe.”
“I breaded my eggplant since I prefer it that way. This was very good, much like a lasagna. Thanks Ashbury!Roxygirl”
“What a wonderful “comfort food” recipe. If you like eggplant parmesan you should love this dish. It was very easy to make. Just be sure to slice the eggplant nice and thin. I also needed to use about 3 cups tomato sauce, rather than the 2 cups called for. It didn’t take too long to cook, only about 35 minutes in total.”