Eggplant Lasagna
A day late!
Oh hi, and welcome to a recipe inspired by a wonderful lunch I had a vineyard in Italy. Next week, get ready for a flower-filled spring photo essay. In the meantime, check out my past posts here and learn more about my day job here. Thanks for joining us!
PS: Thanks for your patience here—I’m a day late with this post, but really wanted to get some pictures to go along with this recipe.
Once upon a magical trip to Italy, I ate the world’s most delicious eggplant lasagna. It was thick and hearty and as close to perfection as anything I have tasted on this Earth. When I expressed as much to the chef, Beatrice Arweiler of Corvagialla Wines, she gracefully accepted the compliment and then told me how much she wished we were there in eggplant season so she could have made it with her own eggplant. I can only imagine how transcendent that dish would have been.
To be very clear, reader, this is not that recipe. This is barely fair to call an approximation—to get close, you’d need to hop on a plane and go visit Beatrice, her son Niccolo, and their beautiful wines.
All that said, here’s my best take (which, I must admit, is pretty good). I’ve tested this four times over the past few months, trying a variation or two and inevitably ending up right back where I started: a simple yet multi-step recipe that gets you a hearty eggplant lasagna.
Tips
This is a recipe that is unexpectedly fussy. Usually, I chafe against labeling food as such, but this one takes a while and has different components and and and…is so worthwhile despite all of that. I tested this recipe for the freezer too, and I’ve been pleased with the results, so if you feel like making double and freezing the rest, that’s a good way to buy-one-get-one, so to speak.
I tested this with no-boil noodles and the regular kind, and I am deeply sorry to report that I strongly (STRONGLY) prefer the regular kind. Make sure to cook them very, very under so they don’t get overly soft in the oven.
Lasagna, to me, is all about the texture. I like to hit mine with a quick broil right at the end of the cooking process to crisp up the edges and add some nice color to the cheese.
Eggplant Lasagna
