Eggplant (Aubergine) and Ziti Parmesan

ashbury's Note:

Eggplant and ziti parmesan

• Total Time: 1 hrs 45 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 3/4 lbs eggplants, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices
• salt
• 8 ounces ziti pasta
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed (or more)
• black pepper, freshly ground
• 1 1/3 cups part-skim ricotta cheese or 1 1/3 cups low fat cottage cheese
• 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated, divided
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley or 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes (optional)
• 2 cups tomato sauce (or more)

Directions:

1. Sprinkle the eggplant with salt. Place the eggplant in a colander, and let it drain for 30 minutes.
2. Rinse the eggplant, and pat it dry.
3. Cook the ziti al dente according to the package directions.
4. Drain and rinse the pasta, and set it aside. Combine the oil and garlic, and smear it on the eggplant slices.
5. Then sprinkle the slices generously with pepper.
6. Broil the eggplant slices about 4 inches from the heat, turning them once, for a total of about 5 minutes.
7. (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.
8. Toss the cheese mixture with the ziti.
9. 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.
10. Top with the reserved 2 tablespoons of parmesan.
11. Cover the casserole, and bake it in a preheated 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.
12. Remove the cover, and bake the casserole for another 15 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.
13. .

Reviews

[Recipe Reader]

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.

[reneeumiami]

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.

[mickeydownunder]

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! :)