If you love rich, filling meals that stick to your ribs, my vegetarian casserole recipe will fit the bill. This veggie casserole tastes great the first night and even better on the second and third nights as the flavors meld, and it goes great with French bread or pita bread. The principle ingredients are eggplant and tomato. Note that there is cheese in this recipe, but you can skip the cheese and still have a delicious meal. There is also yogurt in this recipe which helps to thicken it up, but you can also skip this ingredient if you don’t mind a different consistency.
Prep Time
15 Minutes
Cook Time
60 Minutes
Yield
8
Difficulty Level
Easy (Beginner)
Ingredients
3 eggplants
2 chopped onions
2 crushed cloves of garlic
1.5 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 can of tomato puree (about 10.75 ounces)
1 tsp ground pepper
2 containers (8 ounces) of plain yogurt with no sugar added
¼ cup wheat germ or whole wheat breadcrumbs
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
1. Slice the eggplants into quarter inch slices. Salt your eggplants and leave them to sit for the next half hour. While you are waiting on the eggplants, put a large frying pan on the stove over low heat. Cover it with a lid so that your veggies won’t dry out. Sauté your onions and garlic in olive oil. Wait until the onions have softened and start to brown.
2. Next, add the basil, oregano, tomato puree, salt and pepper into the skillet with the onions and garlic. Also pour in ¼ cup of water.
3. Leave this mixture to simmer, and rinse the salt off the eggplant slices. Next you will need to steam the slices. You can do this over the stove or in a microwave steamer basket if you have one.
4. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
5. Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish or a dish with the equivalent area.
6. Take your tomato mixture off the skillet, and spread several tablespoons worth of the mixture across the bottom of your greased baking dish. Now, take some of the eggplant slices (use about a third of them) and place them on top. Pour a third of the remaining tomato mixture over the layer of eggplant. Next, pour a container of yogurt over the top (you will barely taste it; it will meld into the recipe). Next, repeat this entire process, putting on another layer of eggplant, tomato sauce, and yogurt. Put the rest of the eggplants and tomato sauce on top (you will be out of yogurt by this point).
7. Once you have layered on all the tomato, yogurt, and eggplant, cover the casserole dish with tin foil, and put it in the oven for half an hour on 350 degrees.
8. Pull the dish out, uncover it, and spread your wheat germ or breadcrumbs on top, and then follow up with the parmesan cheese.
9. Put the dish back in the oven for another 20-30 minutes. Pull it out when the topping starts to brown, and serve.
Servings : 8
Ready in : 75
Course : Main Course
Recipe Type : Dinner, Vegan Recipes
