Roasted Eggplant and Zucchini Lasagna

This is a marvelous recipe. Lacey had seen the idea somewhere, and since we're both being conscious of loose carbs, we wanted to give it a try... and then it's been so hot that it was just counter-productive to think about turning on the oven at 4:30 in the afternoon.

So... I didn't.

But Tuesday of this week was in the gloriously comfortable 70's and that rocked! It also gave me plenty of time to heat things up a little and try this out.

It's not a difficult recipe, and the squash and eggplant part can be roasted ahead of time, then chilled. Everything else takes about a whole ten minutes... So let's try this and see!

Three small eggplant
Three small-to-medium zucchini

Wash squash and eggplant, trim ends. slice into 1/4-1/3" slices. Spray two cookie sheets with cooking spray. Lay out slices on a couple of cookie sheets. Brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic and then Parmesan or Romano cheese. Roast in preheated 400° oven for about fifteen minutes. Cheese should be golden and squash/eggplant should be fork tender.

Cool. (Refrigerate if making ahead of time, and by the way, these make great low-carb snacks just this way, out of the oven!)

Cheese mixture:

2 cups Ricotta
1 cup Mozzarella
1/2 cup Parmesan or Romano
1 large egg
2 Tbsp. sugar

Mix completely.

Sauce: (can be with meat or meatless, Kav!!!)

Chop one-half of a medium onion. Saute in thin layer of olive oil over medium-low heat until transparent. Add chopped garlic or about a tablespoon of garlic powder or granulated garlic. If desired, add a pound or more of ground beef. I threw in a couple of chopped up Italian sausage patties we'd grilled the night before... they added a great pizzaz!

Once meat is cooked, pour in a bottle of your favorite sauce. Remember how they used to be quarts of sauce? Well, now they're 24 or 26 ounces, depending on brand... We're being downsized!

Add a sprinkle of basil and parsley to the sauce. Simmer about ten minutes.

Cover bottom of pan with thin layer of sauce.
Cover with either zucchini or eggplant.

Dot with cheese and spread somewhat.
Repeat with eggplant, then cheese, Then zucchini if you still have some.
A drizzle of sauce, then Parmesan or Romano cheese.

Cover with foil and bake at 350° for about 35 minutes.

Cool about 5-10 minutes before cutting.

Serves 6.

And it was SO GOOD!!!!

This is the kind of dish that's a great take-along to a party and/or served at a shower, brunch, etc. Dave loved it and is enjoying having veggies mixed into dishes in place of pasta... And what a great use of fresh garden produce!

Here's what the Blodgett/Herne weekend looked like: COUSINPALOOZA!!!!

Let the games begin!
Small and fierce!!!!

And then the grown-ups got into the act... Super soakers for everyone!!!! With water balloons on the side!

Ready for the birthday party part of the day...

Sundae Bar set up...

Lovely family... and bunting, of course!

Cupcake trays...

Once a year we have a big party on the farm to celebrate all the grandgirls and boys... A celebration of life and love. Now they're big enough to play games... to enjoy water fights... and to use their imaginations in all kinds of ways.

And at the end of the day, Emma and Anna cleaned the playroom for me!

What a wonderful surprise!

:)

That's it from upstate... Summer fun, I'm delighted to have had a two-day respite from the crazy heat, and ready to move into phase two of summer... cooling nights!

How 'bout you?

Are you ready for a dip in temps, too?

Multi-published, bestselling author Ruth Logan Herne lives on a small farm in upstate New York. It is small by farming standards, but big enough to make the summers jump with activity... as if summer didn't already do that by the nature of being summer! Ruthy loves to hear from readers and writers... e-mail her at loganherne@gmail.com or stop by her website ruthloganherne.com, friend her on facebook... or stop by Seekerville, the blog she shares with 12 of the most wonderful writing gals she knows!

And always you can stop by here, the community of the Yankee Belle Cafe where regional author/cooks/hosts will welcome you with down  home, mostly normal stuff... because we're Moms, too!