Eggplant Lasagna

I have been experimenting with this recipe for years – trying out different combinations from a homemade white sauce to a simple ricotta filling. I’ve experimented with different methods of how to cook the eggplant and flavour combinations for the meat sauce.

While it was a long time in the making, I have FINALLY come to the perfect combination of flavours, textures and overall deliciousness.

Now, I should warn you – this recipe is not a quick week night throw together meal. Much like a good risotto, it needs love, attention, time and a good amount of wine to get you through the process.

While you can take short cuts to cut down on the overall cook time, after a lot (A LOT) of trial and error, I truly believe each and every step below is needed for the best possible outcome. You can however rest assured, that after all my experiments, I decided a white sauce was not needed and a good cheese in between the layers easily suffices - please remember I spared you this task while asking you to individually coat and fry the slices of eggplant.

If you are already feeling overwhelmed – don’t. The recipe itself is very straightforward so just sit back and relax with a glass of wine (or two) and enjoy making this over a lazy Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

It is truly worth it and will leave you feeling like a domestic god.

Eggplant Lasagna
Serves 6 - 8
Prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 30 minutes

Meat sauce
600gms prime beef mince
2 onions
2 cloves garlic
1 cup red wine
500mls beef stock
1 x 400gms tin crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 bay leaves

Eggplant layers
3 eggplants
Olive oil (for frying)
Plain flour (for coating)

Additional Ingredients
400gms cheese (grated)
¼ cup bread crumbs (optional)
Salt
Pepper

Start by heating up oil in a pan over a medium heat. While the oil is heating up, dice and chop both the onions and garlic, then add them to the pan. Turn the heat down to low and slowly start to sweat the onions and garlic – to sweat something means to cook it long and slow on a low heat. You’ll know the onions are ready once they go beautifully translucent.

Once the onions have gone translucent, move them to once side of the pan and add the mince. The reason for this is to give the meat as much space to brown as possible. Add salt and pepper to the and, with a wooden spoon, stir through and break the mince up so there are no lumps and it can brown evenly.

When the mince has browned all over, stir through the onions and turn the heat up to medium/high Cook for another few minutes, stirring continuously so nothing burns. Once the pan is nice and hot, add the red wine. Use the wine to deglaze the pan – removing any caramelised bits that stuck to the bottom.

After the wine has reduced slightly (2-3 minutes), mix through the tin of tomatoes, beef stock, bay leaves and tomato paste. If you have some whole tomatoes that have lost their firmness, they can also make a great alternative to canned tomatoes.

Stir all the ingredients together and turn down to a low simmer. Leave for at least 30 minutes to let all the flavours infuse together. This is a great sauce to cook ahead of time and will keep in the freezer for at least 6 months.

While the sauce is simmering, heat your oven to 180°C and start to prepare the eggplants. For the eggplant layers, I usually use one and a half eggplants per layer.

Slice the eggplant width ways to create circles – I aim for 1/2 cm in thickness. Place a frying pan on the stove over a low/medium heat. Allow to heat up for around 30 seconds before adding olive oil (around 2 tablespoons per batch).

While the oil is heating up, lightly coat each side of the sliced eggplant in flour. Add to the pan with salt and pepper and fry till golden brown on each side – approx. 5 minutes per side. If they start to burn, either turn the heat down or reduce the cook time. Make sure to cook in batches, repeating this step.

If you do not have time (or the will power) to coat and individually cook the eggplant, you can also bake them in the oven for 15 minutes but coating them in flour and cooking them this way helps keep their firmness. The flour acts as a barrier, so they don’t melt into the meat sauce while baking in the oven. I personally find helping myself to a glass of wine while cooking makes this step a lot more enjoyable.

As the batches finish cooking, start to line a baking dish with them – use a baking dish which is at least 4cms deep. Make sure there are no holes peeking through from the base and the entire dish is lined with eggplant.

Once the first layer of eggplant has completely lined the baking dish, spread half the meat sauce over the first layer of eggplant and top with 200gms of grated cheese. Repeat the layering of the eggplant – making sure there are no gaps – and top with the remaining meat sauce and cheese. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top of the cheese along with a sprinkling of pepper. While you do not need to add the bread crumbs, I think they add a great texture and crunch to the dish.

Place the baking dish in the pre-heated oven and bake for 30 minutes or until it is golden brown on top.

I either serve as is or with a simple green salad if cooking for a group of people.

If you make this, make sure to tag @belleskitchennz in any photos and let me know how it goes!