Eggplant Pasta Bake Recipe

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly oil a large, deep casserole dish. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
Arrange the sliced eggplant on a greased cookie sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
In a food processor, puree the onion, bell pepper, garlic and optional ancho chile pepper. If the mixture is too thick add a tablespoon of water. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Pour the onion mixture into the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated and the mixture has thickened. Remove from the heat and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Stir in flour until smooth. Add milk, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat.
Arrange half of the baked eggplant in the greased casserole dish. Spoon in half of the white sauce, covering the eggplant. Spread the veggie crumbles over the white sauce, followed by the pasta, and a layer of the bell pepper puree. Cover the the onion and pepper mixture with remaining eggplant and spoon the remaining white sauce over the eggplant. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the casserole.
Bake uncovered in the preheated oven for 35 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Reviews (9)

CUTNCOLOR

Apr. 3, 2007

"I made this recipe last night. And, of course, like many people, I made a few changes but, only because I didn't have an ingredient. I used a green bell pepper instead of a red one since I didn't have..." See more it. I also had a little left over ricotta and put that in the layer inbetween the cream sauce and the pasta. Despite my changes, it came out very good. When I make this again (yes, it was that good) I will use the red bell pepper because I think it would add a little sweetness to the recipe and also add a little less onion. I used the amt as stated and it was just a little too overpowering. Also, some of us are used to thickening our white sauce. Don't do it. Follow the recipe, it thickens while it bakes. And, I don't think the ricotta made a whole lotta difference but, if I had extra, I would still add it again. If I didn't, it wouldn't be missed. Enjoy..."

BunnyzBebaH

Jan. 29, 2010

"WOW! This was so yummy. It's hard to believe that it is a vegetarian dish. I made a few changes..I used Smart Balance, fat free milk, and whole grain pasta..which made it even more figure friendly...." See more Also, the serving size is HUGE! I would take a big piece of this over a tiny piece of lasagna ANY day of the week! This is worth the time and effort :)"

Hayley

Sep. 1, 2010

"So, I had to change a few things because I live in a place where things like vegetarian burger crumbles don't exist and because my oven cooks at a steady 600+ degrees... 1) Since I don't have vegetar..." See moreian burger crumbles, I just left them out all together. Maybe it tastes better with them, but it was still quite good without them. 2) I can't afford olive oil in this country but sunflower oil did just fine. 3) Ancho chili peppers don't exist here so I used a central-asian spicy pepper. I don't think I'll do this again because I didn't feel like the spice really added anything to the dish but I will add a second red pepper for a bit more of that flavor. 3) I didn't have mozzarella cheese but another melt-able white cheese was substituted and tasted great. Overall, the recipe was good but it did come out bland, as another reviewer mentioned. When I make it again, this is what I will do differently: 1) I will cut the eggplant to be about 1/8 inch thick and probably use a second eggplant. 2) When baking the eggplant, I will put pieces of garlic inside the eggplant slices and put butter with a sprinkle of salt on top. 3) I will salt and season the white sauce to taste and make a little extra to mix with the pasta. 4) I will mix some white sauce and cheese with the pasta before putting it in the dish to bake."

More Reviews