Meal: Lunch or Dinner  
Dietary Type: Vegetarian 
Prep Time: 15 minutes 
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Serves: 6 

The Dish

Lasagna! This particular recipe is all vegetarian and gluten and grain-free, for those who are following special diets. We love when we find such awesome and delicious ways to bring more vegetables into your diet and create an absolutely amazing dish. 

This lasagna is inspired by the amazing abundance that spring and summer offer us. It is a celebration of plant foods, aromas, and spices...and most of all, it is a dish that will be adored by everyone since everyone likes lasagna.

Instead of traditional wheat pasta, we use baked eggplant slices, which (to be honest) taste even better than the original. They are soft and tender and have this pleasant umami flavor that brings everything together.

The sauce is also a very important part of the flavor of this gluten-free lasagna. We packed this sauce with all kinds of fresh ingredients for extra color and flavor. Mushrooms make the filling so hearty and satisfying that you can easily fall in love with this veggie heavy dish. You can also easily make it a vegan option by omitting the mozzarella or using vegan cheese to top. Whatever you choose, this meal is definitely going to impress everyone and become a family favorite. 

Feeling the effects of harsh dieting? Struggling to lose weight? This is a worthwhile read: How to fix a damaged metabolism after dieting.

This dish requires a bit of time but you can easily do a little meal prep on a Sunday and enjoy it during the week or pack for lunch at work. Just heat it up a little bit and enjoy with some fresh salad or just some fresh herbs sprinkled on top. 

Ingredients

4 eggplants
2 cloves garlic
1 onion
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 carrot
1 stalk celery
2 cups (150g) mushrooms
3 tbsp (30ml) olive oil
1 tsp each dried oregano (1g), salt (5.9g), pepper (2.3g)
3 cups (400g) tomato sauce
1.5 cups (340g) mozzarella or mozzarella substitute)
parsley for sprinkling

Preparation

• Rinse all the vegetables.
• Slice the eggplant in quarter-inch (~½ cm) slices.
• Place them in a baking tray with parchment paper.
• Season with salt and pepper and roast at 350°F (175°C) for 15 minutes until soft and golden.
• Cube all vegetables into small pieces without the mushrooms.
• Cut the mushrooms into big slices.
• In a big cooking pan, heat olive oil.
• Saute the onion for 1 min.
• Add the celery and carrot and saute for 1 min more.
• Add the peppers and cook for 1 minute more.
• Finally add the mushrooms and toss everything together.
• Season with salt and pepper and oregano and add the tomato sauce.
• Bring everything to a boil and set aside.
   
• Take a deep baking dish and line it with a layer of the roasted eggplant.
• Spread 1/3 of the tomato filling. Lay another eggplant layer and so on until you finish with the last third of the filling.
• Top with shredded mozzarella cheese, cover with foil, and cook for 20 minutes at 375°F (190°C) until melted and slightly golden.
• Remove foil, let cook for additional 15 minutes, until cheese is slightly crispy.
• Sprinkle with some chopped parsley leaves when serving.

Notes: You can use also zucchini or red peppers instead of eggplant. Feel free to sub out any veggies that you aren't crazy about for ones that you love; these simple modifications can allow you to turn any recipe you like into one that you love.

Looking for dessert? Try these vegan, gluten free chocolatey brownies.