Ingredients
-
salt
-
8 ounces ziti pasta
-
1 tablespoon oil
-
black pepper, freshly ground
-
1 1/3 cups part-skim ricotta cheese or 1 1/3 cups low fat cottage cheese
-
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated, divided
-
1/4 cup fresh parsley or 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes, minced
-
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
-
1/2 teaspoon oregano
-
2 cups tomato sauce (or more)
-
1 garlic clove, crushed (or more)
-
1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
-
1 3/4 lbs eggplants, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices
Instructions
- Sprinkle the eggplant with salt. Place the eggplant in a colander, and let it drain for 30 minutes.
- Rinse the eggplant, and pat it dry.
- Cook the ziti al dente according to the package directions.
- Drain and rinse the pasta, and set it aside. Combine the oil and garlic, and smear it on the eggplant slices.
- Then sprinkle the slices generously with pepper.
- Broil the eggplant slices about 4 inches from the heat, turning them once, for a total of about 5 minutes.
- (You may have to do this in 2 batches.) In a large bowl, combine the ricotta or cottage cheese, all but 2 tablespoons of the parmesan, the parsley, basil, oregano, and pepper flakes.
- Toss the cheese mixture with the ziti.
- On the bottom of a 2-= to 3 quart casserole, spread a thin layer of tomato sauce, add half the ziti mixture, then half the eggplant slices, then half the remaining tomato sauce. Repeat the ziti, eggplant, and sauce layers.
- Top with the reserved 2 tablespoons of parmesan.
- Cover the casserole, and bake it in a preheated 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.
- Remove the cover, and bake the casserole for another 15 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.
- .