Meaty Mediterranean Lasagna
8
Servings
19
Ingredients
11
Comments
This Meaty Mediterranean Lasagna features one of the summer's most pleasant purple offerings: eggplant! Plus with plenty of spinach and basil in the mix, this filling homemade dish offers a hearty helping of nutritious, fresh produce.
8
Servings
19
Ingredients
11
Comments
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil #1
- 1 ¼ cups dice Onion
- 4 teaspoons mince Garlic, Cloves
- 1 ½ cups cook Ground Beef
- 28 ounces Whole Tomatoes, Canned
- 1 cup Water
- ½ cups Tomato Paste
- 1 teaspoon Oregano, Dried
- 2 tablespoons chop Fresh Basil #1
- ⅛ teaspoons Salt #1
- ⅛ teaspoons Black Pepper #1
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil #2
- 3 ¾ cups slice Eggplant
- ⅛ teaspoons Salt #2
- ⅛ teaspoons Black Pepper #2
- 2 cups chop Spinach, Baby
- 12 individual Lasagna Noodles, Whole Wheat
- 2 cups Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded
- 3 tablespoons chop Fresh Basil #2
Containers
Supplies
Cooking Instructions
Freeze For Later Cooking Day Directions
Bake
These directions help you cook or prepare this meal PRIOR to being frozen for serving later (see Serving Day Directions when you are ready to prepare it to eat).
Why would I want to freeze this?
- In a large heavy sauce pan, heat olive oil #1.
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Make From Frozen Serving Day Directions
Bake
These directions help you cook or reheat this meal AFTER it's been frozen for when you are ready to eat it.
- Thaw: In fridge
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Make It Now Cooking Directions
Oven Cook
These directions are for cooking this recipe to serve immediately and NOT to freeze for later.
- In a large heavy sauce pan, heat olive oil #1.
- Saute onion and garlic for about 3 minutes.
- Add ground beef, whole tomatoes (crushing with your hands or chopping with kitchen shears), water, tomato paste, oregano, and basil #1 for sauce.
- Season with salt #1 and pepper #1 and stir to combine.
- Cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, brush eggplant slices on both sides with olive oil #2.
- Place on a baking sheet in a single layer and sprinkle with salt #2 and pepper #2.
- Place under the broiler until browned on both sides. You may have to flip them over in the middle of cooking time. This should take about 8-12 minutes, but broiler temperatures vary, so watch carefully.
- Cook lasagna noodles al dente, according to package directions and drain.
- Grease 2 deep dish 8 x 8 foil baking pans (or one 13 x 9 baking pan).
- Pour in enough meat sauce to coat the bottom of the pans.
- Place first layer of cooked lasagna sheets on top. Layer half of the eggplant, half of the spinach, one third of the cheese, and one third of the basil. Pour about one third of remaining sauce on top.
- Repeat layer and top again with another third of the sauce.
- Top with remaining lasagna noodles, pour over remaining sauce, and sprinkle with cheese and basil #2.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until cooked through and bubbly.
11 Comments
Join the discussionI see spinach mentioned in the directions, but not the recipe list. How much and what kind (frozen/fresh)?
I updated the post, but you will need 2 cups of roughly chopped baby spinach. Sorry for the typo!
It says to cook noodles al dente, but then says to layer the uncooked pasta–am I missing something?
I’m sorry, I made a change but didn’t catch all of the places where it said uncooked. The noodles should be cooked al dente as stated.
Thanks! I’m new to this, so I definitely needed the clarification!
Yikes! Today is my first attempt. Yesterday was a shopping marathon to prepare. I made this dish today and had not seen this version. I froze all of mine with uncooked pasta. I wonder what will happen? A crunchy surprise? I do appreciate all of your work. Not a complaint here, just a warning to self to check and compare all versions before I begin.
Did you print out the “printable recipe cards” before starting? And I am sure that the noodles will likely be fine as they will most likely absorb liquid when thawing and cooking.
Tricia, I did use the printable recipe card. Just rechecked and it still instructs to use uncooked lasagna. I agree, they will probable turn out fine.
Just a friendly not to let your viewers know if you have not had eggplant in this kind of dish or maybe you never have I would not suggest adding it. The receipt itself is wonderful minus eggplant.
I’m a newby, what do the numbers at the end of individual instructions mean? Ex: sprinkle with cheese and basil. #2
Hey, there! It means you need two different amounts of basil. For example, 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup – so we label them #1 and #2 so you use the correct amount as you follow the recipe. Hope that helps!