Easy Eggplant Marinara over Thin Spaghetti

Spaghetti is the girls' favorite dish and something that will always get eaten. They also like eggplant so this was my attempt to combine a vegetable with their favorite entree. It was mostly successful. Be sure to fry the eggplant until it's soft.



Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 rolls of Ritz crackers, crushed (use a potato masher or rolling pin)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 large eggplant, sliced into even pieces
• 1 - 1lb 8 oz jar of spaghetti sauce
• 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, shredded
• spaghetti, cooked (amount determined how many people you are feeding)
• Olive or Vegetable oil 

Preparations:

1. Combine milk with beaten eggs and whisk.
2. Dip sliced eggplant into beaten eggs and then into the Ritz crackers. Place prepared eggplant on plate. Repeat until all of the eggplant is breaded.
3. Fry eggplant in oil over medium heat. Cook both sides evenly until eggplant is soft.
4. Layer eggplant in 9x13 pan. (Coat with Pam or Crisco spray first)
5. Cover eggplant with spaghetti sauce. Top with cheese.
6. Bake at 375 degrees until cheese is bubbling. (Approximately 12 to 15 minutes.)
7. Cook spaghetti according to directions and drain.
8. Serve eggplant over spaghetti. Salt and pepper to taste.

Easy Portobello Mushroom Saute from Allrecipes.com

When I paid $5.99 per pound (ouch!) for these mushrooms, I had the intention of making portobello mushroom burgers. When that recipe didn't come together, I went for this one. It's easy, non-time consuming but the cheese really makes it. As Ken and the kids say - "Cheese makes everything better."

Ingredients:

•  3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic flavored olive oil
• 1/4 onion, cut into chunks
• 2 portobello mushroom caps, sliced
• salt and black pepper to taste
• freshly grated Parmesan
• freshly grated Asiago cheese

Preparations:

1. Warm 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic flavored olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. 
2. Stir in onions and mushrooms; reduce heat to low, and cook until the mushrooms are soft and blackened and the onions are black around the edges. (Add additional olive oil as needed.) 
3. Turn the heat off, drizzle with 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. 
4. Sprinkle generously with Parmesan and Asiago cheeses.

Eggplant Lasagna

Inspiration sometimes comes from the strangest of places...We were watching Big Bang Theory a couple of weeks ago and one of the characters mentioned eggplant lasagna. I have to admit that prior to see that particular episode, I'd never heard of eggplant lasagna and frankly, it didn't really sound like I was missing anything. Then Ken brought home an eggplant (rather randomly) and it seemed like fate - clearly I was destined to make eggplant lasagna. :)

This recipe comes from Kraft and it got four out of five stars on their website. I always seem to have the same issue with every lasagna recipe - the sauce mixture never makes enough for three layers. It's always two layer city. So if you think I'm doing something wrong here, feel free to leave a comment.

Ingredients:

 

1/4 cup olive oil (I had to use more than this amount because 1/4 of a cup wasn't enough)

1 medium  eggplant, peeled, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cloves  garlic, minced

1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce

3 cups Ricotta Cheese

1 lb Mozzarella Cheese, shredded, divided

1/2 cup  Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided

9 lasagna noodles, cooked, drained

Preparations:

1. PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add eggplant, onion and garlic. Cook 15 min. or until eggplant is very tender, stirring occasionally. 
2. Stir in spaghetti sauce; set aside. Mix ricotta cheese, 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese. 
3. SPRAY 13x9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Layer 3 lasagna noodles, 1/3 of the cheese mixture and 1/3 of the sauce in dish; repeat layers 2 times. Top with remaining 1 cup mozzarella cheese and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. 
4. BAKE 40 to 45 min. or until heated through. Let stand 10 min. before cutting to serve. 

 

Easy baked Ziti

This dish is a huge hit with the girls. It's super easy to make, makes a lot and the girls almost always polish off the whole thing. You can make this with whatever kind of sauce you like so it can be red, white, meat or vegetarian. I generally make it with red sauce because the girls prefer that over white. This is also a very cheap dish to make if you buy the pasta boxes when they're on sale for a dollar and the spaghetti sauce when it's on sale as well.

Ingredients:

1 Jar spaghetti sauce
1 box of Ziti pasta
1 1/2 cups of Mozzarella cheese

Preparations:

1. Cook pasta as directed on the box. (usually 12-15 minutes at a boil)
2. Combine cooked pasta in casserole dish or 9x13 pan. Mix well. 
3. Top with cheese. Bake at 375 until cheese is melted.