Quick and easy aubergine lasagne (no sauce)
Lasagne might hark back to the 80s and 90s, and you might not have the greatest memories of it, but trust me, this vegetarian aubergine lasagne breaks the mould ... in a good way. It's easy to make, light, healthy, and there's no sauce. It's delicious too, of course!
Ingredients
- 2 eggplant aubergine, sliced into fairly thick slices, medium-sized
- 1 red onion sliced into about 8 slices, large
- olive oil for brushing and a bit more for drizzling at the end
- 4 lasagna sheets fresh
- 1 mozzarella cheese sliced into 8 pieces, ball
- Parmesan Cheese about a handful, grated
- sun-dried tomato pesto see below
- basil small bunch, fresh
for the sundried tomato pesto
- 3/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes drained, in oil
- pine nuts I used walnuts as they’re cheaper!, or walnuts
- 2 garlic chopped, cloves
- 1/4 cup olive oil about ¼ cup olive oil
- 1.75 ounces Parmesan Cheese grated
to serve (optional)
- salad leaves fresh green; and/or
- garlic bread fresh green; and/or
Instructions
- Heat up the broiler (grill – UK), then lay the eggplant and onion slices on a broiler pan (grill pan), brush them with a little oil and broil/grill for about 5 minutes or until nicely browned. Then turn over, brush over a little more oil and cook for another 5 minutes on the other side, or until nice and soft. Transfer to a plate and put aside*.
- Meanwhile, boil the lasagna sheets for a few minutes, then drain and cut in half to make squares. Finally, put into a dish and pour over a bit of oil to stop them sticking.
- Make the pesto by whizzing up all the ingredients in a food processor. Slowly add a bit of water until you get a nice smooth paste.
- Preheat your oven to 175C/350F. Now assemble your lasagnas. Lay four squares of pasta on a lightly-oiled baking tray and top with a couple of slices of eggplant, a slice of onion, a torn-up piece of mozzarella, a sprinkle of parmesan, a good heaped teaspoon of pesto and a torn-up basil leaf or two.
- Lay another pasta square on top (at an angle to the first), then top with more vegetables, cheese, pesto and basil. Bake for ten minutes.
- To serve, drizzle over a bit of olive oil and top with a final sprig of basil. Eat with fresh green salad leaves (and garlic bread, if you like).
Notes
- Thanks to Waitrose for the inspiration for this recipe! (adapted)
- Don’t worry if your onion slices sort of fall apart a bit after they’re cooked!
- You'll find that there's plenty of pesto left over when you make these lasagnas, so don't forget to stir it through hot pasta later in the week.
- If you like, pan-fry some chopped chicken and bacon to add to the pan, too (just remember to add a bit of the pasta cooking water to make the dish nice and loose and silky). Bonus - 2 meals in 1!
Nutrition Information
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 4 Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 403
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 403kcal | 20% |
| Carbohydrates | 44g | 15% |
| Protein | 12g | 24% |
| Fat | 21g | 32% |
| Saturated Fat | 4g | 20% |
| Cholesterol | 39mg | 13% |
| Sodium | 270mg | 11% |
| Potassium | 973mg | 21% |
| Fiber | 8g | 32% |
| Sugar | 9g | 18% |
| Vitamin A | 435IU | 9% |
| Vitamin C | 28.5mg | 32% |
| Calcium | 193mg | 19% |
| Iron | 2.7mg | 15% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.