Mains, Recipes

Polenta Eggplant Lasagna

Polenta eggplant lasagna | Blooming Vegan

Polenta eggplant lasagna | Blooming Vegan

This recipe was my first attempt at making any kind of lasagna, as well as the first time I cooked with eggplant or polenta. I wanted to make a soy-free version, so this contains no tofu. A nice thing about this recipe is that it is lighter and much less filling than the more traditional kind made with pasta noodles.

Ingredients

1 cup of polenta

1 cup of kale

1 small eggplant

2 cups of organic tomato sauce

1/2 cup of breadcrumbs (optional)

About 1 teaspoon of olive oil (or olive oil spray)

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 teaspoon parsley

1 teaspoon oregano

1 tablespoon Earth balance

1 teaspoon Italian seasonings

 

Directions

1. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil and add polenta. Reduce to a simmer for about five minutes, stirring often, until polenta has absorbed the water. Add garlic powder, onion powder, parsley and oregano. When polenta is done, grease a shallow bowl with Earth Balance; add polenta to the bowl, using a spoon to flatten the top. Once cooled, the polenta can be cut into slices.

2. Bring another pot of water to boil. De-stem kale and chop it into pieces. Chop the eggplant into round disks. Place eggplant pieces onto a baking sheet and baste or drizzle with olive oil (or olive oil spray) and Italian seasonings.

3. Broil eggplant for about 5 minutes. Boil the kale for about 3 minutes, until the leaves turn bright green. Strain kale thoroughly to remove excess water (it should be as dry as possible).

4. Thinly line a baking pan (I used an 8×8 glass pan) with tomato sauce. Place polenta slices first, then a layer of kale, then more sauce, then a layer of eggplant, more sauce, a layer of polenta and then more sauce. Top with breadcrumbs.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until breadcrumbs are toasted.

 

Posted on March 5th, 2012 in Mains, Recipes