Healthy Eggplant & Pasta Bake

Name: Healthy Eggplant & Pasta Bake
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: 6 serving(s)
Ingredients: 1 medium eggplant, sliced 1/4-inch thick; 1 large zucchini, sliced 1/8-inch thick; 4 garlic cloves, diced; 1 1/2 cups dry measure quinoa pasta (elbows); 1 (16 ounce) container low fat cottage cheese; 1 egg; 8 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese; 2 ounces grated romano cheese (or parmesan); 1 (25 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce (or about 1 1/2 cups homemade); salt & fresh ground pepper

Submitted by jude503

"I started craving Eggplant Ziti after watching too many episodes of The Soprano's - but I wanted a version I could feel good about eating. Use regular pasta if you like - But if you've never tried quinoa pasta it is awesome. It's way healthier than regular pasta and tastes a little like corn. Easy and DELISH!"

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Ready In:: 1hr 20mins
Ingredients:: 10
Serves:: 6

ingredients

1 medium eggplant, sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 large zucchini, sliced 1/8-inch thick
4 garlic cloves, diced
1 ¹⁄₂ cups dry measure quinoa pasta (elbows)
1 (16 ounce) container low fat cottage cheese
1 egg
8 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
2 ounces grated romano cheese (or parmesan)
1 (25 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce (or about 1 1/2 cups homemade)
salt & fresh ground pepper

directions

Salt eggplant slices and let sit 30 minutes in colander.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bring large pot of water to boil. Cook pasta 4-5 minutes (about halfway done). drain & rinse with cold water.
Mix egg and cottage cheese together. Rinse eggplant and pat dry.
Use a 9x9 or 9x13 casserole dish (the 9x9 will be filled to the brim). Spray with olive oil cooking spray. Start layering the ingredients. First a thin layer of sauce, then arrange so there are 2 layers of each ingredient: salt & pepper the veggies a little as you go & make sure the cottage cheese mixture is next to the pasta (it cooks into the pasta & tastes great). Top layers with sauce and about 1/2 the mozz & parm.
Bake 40 minutes covered & then uncover 'til brown & bubbly (about 10 more min.) Let sit a few minutes before slicing.

Questions & Replies

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Reviews

Very tasty and easy recipe. I used summer squash in place of zucchini and skipped the cottage cheese this time (I used ricotta cheese when I made this a few weeks ago). In 40 minutes, the veggies cook up nicely, and the whole thing melts together into a tasty dinner thanks to the mozzarella. Thanks for sharing the recipe, Jude!

Larry Spaghetti
I followed the recommendations exactly as suggested with two minor changes. I used two small eggplants since I did not have zucchini and I used a high fiber pasta rather than the quinoa pasta. It was EXCELLENT! All of the sinfully delicious taste of a heavy italian meal without any of the guilt! I also didn't know what you wanted people to do with the 4 cloves of garlic, I just minced the garlic and tossed it into the sauce as I layered the dish. Really nice! I will make it again.

Deb B.

Tweaks

Very tasty and easy recipe. I used summer squash in place of zucchini and skipped the cottage cheese this time (I used ricotta cheese when I made this a few weeks ago). In 40 minutes, the veggies cook up nicely, and the whole thing melts together into a tasty dinner thanks to the mozzarella. Thanks for sharing the recipe, Jude!

Larry Spaghetti