i have been loving baked eggplant dishes lately -- the combo of buttery eggplant with gooey cheese and fresh tomato sauce is something i never tire of. for this recipe, i used eggplant layers instead of pasta to create a layered "lasagna" that's scrumptious...and gluten-free! (this is one of my husband's new favorite hearty meals, despite the fact that it's vegetarian :-)

here's what you'll need for lasagna for 4...

1 eggplant, sliced into 1/4-1/3 inch rounds
1 large onion, chopped
1 tsp garlic, minced
1/2 cup ricotta
2 oz mozzarella, thinly sliced
3/4 cup marinara sauce
basil
salt & pepper
olive oil

1. preheat your oven to 400. on an oiled baking tray, lay out eggplant and season with salt and pepper. drizzle more olive oil over top and roast for approximately 30 min, flipping the rounds half way through cooking.

2. while the eggplant cooks, saute the onion in a bit of olive oil until caramelized. season with salt, pepper and garlic. once onions are done, mix them into the ricotta.

3. when the eggplant is done, allow it to cool slightly and then put a layer in an oiled pie dish or baking dish. top with 1/3 of the ricotta mixture and 1/3 of the marinara and some basil. add another layer of eggplant and again top with ricotta mixture, marinara, and some mozzarella and basil. finally, add on more layer of eggplant and the ricotta mixture, and finish it with mozzarella and basil.