12 Layer Eggplant Lasagna with Homemade Pasta
I’ve been making this 12 layer Eggplant Lasagna for over 30 years. It’s called 12 layer lasagna but you can make as many layers as you would like. The pasta for the layers is homemade, very thin, pasta sheets. A dozen super-thin sheets of fresh pasta brushed with delicious tomato sauce all layered with melted fresh mozzarella cheese and toasted eggplant slices.
This recipe is not hard but does require some focus and dedication to detail to really come out great. You can choose to make this with meat or vegetarian. I will present the vegetarian version. Go to the bottom of this page for variations and tips.
Jughandle's 12 layer Egg Plant Lasagna
I truly believe this will be the best lasagna you have ever eaten. By using fresh pasta you are creating a delicate flavorful dish with lots of texture. If you use fresh store bought pasta, make sure the pasta sheets you buy are fresh and moist.
Rest to combine flavors 30 minutes
Servings 8 Servings
Ingredients
- 4 whole (4 whole) Eggplants large
- 1 pound (453.59 g) fresh pasta sheets or make some from scratch
- 1 Tbsp (1 Tbsp) butter to prep baking dish
- 3 tablespoons (3 tablespoons) olive oil for the ice water dip
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) red pepper flakes dry crushed
- 2 clove (2 clove) garlic pressed
- 28 ounce (793.79 g) crushed organic tomatoes Canned is actually best than fresh in this dish
- 1 Tbsp (1 Tbsp) lemon zest the zest of 1 or 2 lemons
- 12 ounce (340.2 g) mozzarella fresh balls torn up into little pieces
- 1 bunch (1 bunch) basil fresh julienned
- 1 Tbsp (1 Tbsp) Oregano fresh chopped or 1 tsp dry
- 8 oz (226.8 g) Parmesan cheese grated
- 10 oz (283.5 g) Ricotta cheese
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) Tabasco sauce
- 1/4 Cup (59.75 g) Red wine vinegar
Instructions
METHOD:
- Fill large pot 3/4 full of water, throw in a hand full of salt and bring to a boil.
- Butter a deep, square baking dish, or spray with Pam or the like.
TO MAKE YOUR TOMATO SAUCE
- Place the olive oil, salt, pepper flakes, diced onion and garlic in a pan.
- Dial the heat up to high and saute for a minute or two.
- Add the tomatoes and slowly bring to a simmer.
- Add the oregano
- Taste then add a dash of Worcestershire sauce,Tabasco sauce and a splash of red wine vinegar.
- simmer for 20 minutes
- Remove from heat, stir in the lemon zest and taste again.
- If the sauce tastes flat and bland hit it again with the same amount of the Worcestershire sauce,Tabasco sauce and red wine vinegar. tasting in between stirring in between each addition until you like it.
- Set aside.
PREP THE EGGPLANT
- Clean the eggplant and blanche in the boiling water for about 30 seconds to soften the skin
- Remove to an ice bath to cool
- Slice the eggplant as thinly as you can. I use a mandolin.
- Put the slices into water or milk with the juice of 1 lemon to keep from browning and to remove bitterness.
- reserve for the assembly
PREPARE THE LASAGNA NOODLES
- Make the pasta using a pasta machine, or use the store bought fresh pasta sheets.
- Cut the big sheets into 12 inch long strips.
- This should yield about 12-14, foot long strips.
- I go to setting 7 or 8 on the Pasta Queen machine, one shy of the very thinnest setting. You can re-roll the store bought pasta too, if it is too thick.
- The sheets should almost be translucent.
AS YOU ASSEMBLE THE DISH
- Prepare a large bowl with ice water and the a skim coat of olive oil
- Blanche each pasta sheet in the salted boiling water for just 10-20 seconds. It will cook completely in the assembled dish.
- Do each sheet individually
- Transfer them immediately to the cold olive-oil water for a quick swim and cool-off.
- No need to dry the pasta you will want the extra liquid.
ASSEMBLE THE LASAGNA
- When you start to assemble preheat your oven to 375 F.
- Ladle a bit of the sauce into the bottom of the prepared baking dish before you start assembling the pasta layers
- Begin to line the greased baking dish with the pasta sheets.
- It is ok for them to overlap.
- The first layer should go up the sides and hang over about an inch all around.
- Ladle another thin layer of tomato sauce on the first layer and then every third layer.
- Spread the Ricotta on the layers above the tomato sauce and add the mozzarella cheese randomly. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on the cheese layers evenly.
- On every third layer spread evenly a layer of the eggplant topped with a bit of the julienned basil.
- So you will have a pasta layer followed by a sauce layer followed by a cheese layer, followed by an eggplant layer.
- Repeat boiling, cool dipping and layering your pasta, spreading, cheesing and eggplanting until all your ingredients are gone.
- The top layer will be a combination of the sauce, cheese and basil, to form a crusty top.
BAKE
- Bake in the preheated oven on the middle shelf until everything is melted and fragrant, 45 minutes or so.
- It is smart to put a pan under the dish as it cooks to catch any boil over.
- If the top is not crusty turn the oven to high broil and finish browning the top.
- Let it sit for 10 to 20 minutes or more before serving, so everything has a chance to set up a bit.
- FREEZE FOR LATER
- All of this can be done way ahead.
- You can allow the dish to cool and freeze it for another time. Just put the frozen dish in a 300 deg oven for about an hour or so and serve.
Notes
Note: Proper seasoning is important throughout this recipe, if you under salt it is going to taste flat and the flavors won't pop. The right amount of salt brings the pasta forward and focuses the tomato and lemon flavors in the sauce.
Nutrition Facts
Jughandle's 12 layer Egg Plant Lasagna
Amount Per Serving
Calories 602
Calories from Fat 270
% Daily Value*
Fat 30g46%
Saturated Fat 15g94%
Cholesterol 116mg39%
Sodium 1231mg54%
Potassium 920mg26%
Carbohydrates 52g17%
Fiber 8g33%
Sugar 11g12%
Protein 33g66%
Vitamin A 1045IU21%
Vitamin C 15.8mg19%
Calcium 697mg70%
Iron 4.3mg24%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Variations:
Pasta Sauce Recipe with meat sauce variation