Smart Lasagna

Morning. I generally don't do well in the morning. Brain is foggy. Children are crying. Coffee has yet to be consumed. The TV goes on to some morning show, mostly for background noise and not actual information. However, one morning I overheard something about more food with less calories... I then actually tuned in. Because I was still sans coffee I can't remember what show I was watching. But it was the cooking segment where a woman was showing us all how to reduce our caloric intake while maintaing the amount of food we eat by integrating vegetables into main dishes... mostly Italian pasta dishes. One of the tricks I thought I could try was alternating lasagna noodles with roasted eggplant (i.e. instead of layering sauce, noodle, cheese, noodle, sauce..., you would layer sauce, noodle, cheese, eggplant, sauce, noodle, cheese, eggplant...). It can't be bad, right? I mean, I've had eggplant parmigina. I've had lasagna. I think I've had eggplant in lasagna. It'll be fine, right?

You may have noticed the title of this post: "Smart Lasagna". Other than the calorie conscious aspect of this lasagna, it's also "smart" because you use a jar of pasta sauce and no-boil noodles. I'm all about fast, too :)

The Recipe:

Roast Eggplant: http://www.ehow.com/how_2058670_roast-eggplant.html This recipe has you season the eggplant. I did, but I think just the olive oil is necessary for roasting.

Lasagna: Feel free to use your favorite recipe and alternate sauce, noodles, cheese, sauce, eggplant, cheese, sauce... I used a recipe from the January 2, 2011 issue of Parade Magazine (don't judge me. I just go through it to see if there's a coupon hiding in there... and now any interesting recipes). This recipe caught my eye because they used the jar of pasta sauce. I chose no-boil noodles. I've listed the recipe as it appears in the magazine with my modifications in red.

Cooking spray
12 low-carbohydrate lasagna noodles, such as Dreamfields (I used Barilla's no-boil noodles - if you do, be sure to follow the layering instructions and baking time listed on the box)
5 cups Paul Sorvino Foods marinara sauce, or preferred brand (I used 2 jars of what was in my house)
1 15 oz container fat-free ricotta
2 cups shredded, part-skim mozzarella (packaged, not fresh)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 13x9x2 inch glass bakind dish with cooking spray.
2. Cook noodles according to package instructions. (followed no-boil instructions and DID NOT BOIL)
3.  Spread 1 c pasta sauce on bottom of baking dish. Arrange 3 (4 overlapped) noodles side by side on top of sauce, overlapping slightly. Spread about 1/2 c of ricotta and 1/2 c of mozzarella on top of noodles.
4. Repeat layering with pasta sauce, noodles and cheeses 3 more times.
5. Top with 1 c of sauce. Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes. Uncover top with remaining mozzarella and bake 25 to 30 more minutes or until cheese is golden brown. (I followed no-boil baking instructions and used the final amount of sauce to fill in the edges around the pan.) 

Here it is in all its lasagna glory. The curved black line left of center is eggplant.

NEXT TIME:
I can see how this would be a good option if you're working on healthier eating, but straight up lasagna is WAAAAAY better!  I would be inclined to do the eggplant again since it sneaks a little something in there that my husband and toddler wouldn't be interested in. But this also needs meat. And maybe mushrooms. And probably whatever else you would normally put in your lasagna that isn't present in this recipe. Oh well. 2/3 left of the pan for the next couple days and then we never have to see it again. :) I think I will try the other suggestion from the morning show, which was 1/2 zucchini ribbons and 1/2 fettuccine with your favorite sauce and veggies and chicken. I think it was the lasagna recipe that made this a first-time flop.