Eggplant (Aubergine) and Ziti Parmesan
photo by Sackville
- Ready In:
- 1hr 45mins
- Ingredients:
- 13
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
- 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
- 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.
- .
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Reviews
-
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.
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