Greek Lentil & Eggplant Lasagna

I'm a big fan of turning already-awesome foods into healthier, meat-free foods. I find it's a wonderful (and welcomed) challenge to create something awesome (like Greek lasagna) and then turn it around and reinvent it. I've done it a few times (one day I'll get around to posting my beef based French Onion Soup and my vegetarian French Onion soup...) but today I'd like to share my latest creation. Lasagna.

Lasagna, at least in my mind, is one of those "difficult" foods to make that often used for large groups, family meals, gifts*, etc. But it's not so much that it's difficult as it is time consuming to make (hence the quotation marks) - it also freezes well, which is probably also why it's always available in the freezer section of the grocery store. Typically lasagna is made with a meat sauce that tends to be on the sweet side, and with a slight fennel seed taste. It's then layered in pasta and ricotta cheese then baked. Yawn.

At some point in time, I must have seen a magazine article that had a recipe for Greek asagna. I probably followed it and promptly changed it. Today, this is what I use recipe:

Ground lamb (can use cow)

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

large jar whole tomatoes, squished in hand

olive oil

oregano

cinnamon

salt

pepper

- Cook this into a sauce. This is the meat sauce.

butter

flour

milk

parmesan cheese

2 eggs

- Make this as a sauce (typical roux, add cheese) then temper the eggs

In a casserole dish, layer no-boil pasta, meat sauce, parmesan cheese sauce, white cheese, crumbled feta, chopped olives, and repeat until no more room in pan. The goal is to end with feta on top for pretty presentation. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes.

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Now that I'm trying to eat vegetarian, I decided to mix it up and do this:

cooked lentils

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

large jar whole tomatoes, squished in hand

red wine

olive oil

oregano

cinnamon

salt

pepper

- sauce

butter

flour

milk

parmesan cheese

2 eggs

- other sauce, temper your damn eggs

In a casserole dish, layer sliced and skinned EGGPLANT, lentil sauce, parmesan cheese sauce, skip the cheese, but still use your crumbled feta, and repeat until no more room in pan. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes. I forgot the olives on this go around so it's probably optional. I actually preferred the lentil version over the lamb version- although both are great!

*I am reminded of We Bought a Zoo. Although I've gifted food several times, I don't think I've ever gifted lasagna... I should though!