Cooking with Victor Rodriguez, Eggplant Lasagna | Crooklyn’s Corner 07

EPISODE 7

Eggplant Lasagna

-1 large eggplant, as pear-shaped as possible

-1lb ground beef or turkey

-1 medium can crushed tomatoes

-1 head of garlic

-1 onion

-1 pint of ricotta

- 1 egg

- 2 cups mozzarella (shred it yourself)

- Half a cup of parmesan

- Red pepper flakes

- Fine oregano (preferably the Mexican kind)

- Fresh basil leaves

- Hot sauce

- Dried thyme

- Dried rosemary

- Pinch of sugar

- Salt

- Olive oil

Use a mandolin or very sharp knife to slice the eggplant vertically into long sheets. Salt each slice individually and put in a large strainer. Fill a pot with water and place the pot of water on top of the eggplant to press out the bitterness and excess water. Let it sit for about an hour.

Clean and peel the garlic and onion. Crush, grate or pulse garlic and onion a blender. Half will go to the sauce, the other to the meat. Start cooking the meat in a pan by itself, brown it and add the garlic and onion along with the rosemary. Let it cook and strain the fat if you wish.

In another pot, pour the crushed tomatoes and cook it down, adding a pinch of sugar and about a teaspoon of salt with a small splash of water. After 5 minutes, add a splash of olive oil along with the other half of the garlic and onion mixture.

In a bowl, pour out the ricotta, crack the egg and mix with a pinch of salt and half of the mozzarella. Add a pinch of thyme.

Rinse off the eggplant, pat dry and either fry in a shallow pan or drench in olive oil and roast in the oven until soft.

Pour a ladle full of sauce to coat the bottom of a baking pan to prevent burning and sticking. Then put down a layer of eggplant sheets/slices, then pour meat on top of that. Add cheese mixture as the layer above it, then top with the rest of the eggplant slices/sheets. Pour the rest of the sauce on top, and make a final layer with the other half of the mozzarella with an olive oil drizzle on it. Bake for 20 min at 400 degrees.

Pull out of oven and let rest for 15 min and enjoy.

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