Lasatouille? Moussagne? Ratataka?

It all boils (or bakes) down to the same thing: a veggie lasagne, of sorts.

Years ago while travelling, a friend in Germany made a simple dish of eggplant fried in olive oil, then layered with tomatoes and slices of bocconcini cheese.  It was then baked until the eggplant had sopped up the juices from the tomatoes, and the bocconcini was an oozing puddle, binding it all together.

I’ve replicated that dish, and it’s every bit as lovely as my memory of that fall day in Bonn. 

This isn’t that recipe, though. 

As you’ve probably noticed, my masochistic nature is such as to make things far more complicated for myself.  This hasn’t been without positive results.  An occasional meltdown or tantrum in the kitchen?  Most definitely.

When it gets to this time of year the local produce departments, and farmers markets turn into a torrid orgy of bright, fresh, local veggies that just beg to come home with me.  It’s an agricultural red-light district, and I’m the unscrupulous tourist.  Hence it would be foolish to restrain myself, and attempt to keep things simple.

Veggie hedonism ahoy!

2 small zucchini, cut lengthwise (approx 6 six strips at about ½cm thick each)

2 Japanese (long) eggplant, cut same as zukes

2-3 large tomatoes, sliced thin

½ onion, chopped fine

2 cloves garlic, minced

about a dozen large mushrooms, chopped (I definitely recommend reconstituting some dried porcini mushrooms and adding them to this)

a good handful fresh basil leaves (about 2 dozen leaves)

1 ½ c chopped cooked spinach, liquid squeezed out

Mozzarella, about 2-3 cups, shredded*

I started out by pre-grilling the zucchini and eggplant (lightly basted with olive oil) on the BBQ.  You could skip this, though.  Just be sure you slice the zucchini as thin as possible if you do.  Set aside.

Gently fry the onion in olive oil until slightly soft.  Add the minced garlic and chopped mushrooms.  Cook until the mushrooms have softened, adjust salt and pepper to taste, then set aside.

In a 9x13 in pan begin layering your veggies.  A wise person would start with the eggplant slices, as they’ll absorb the juices from the other constituents as they fall to the bottom of the pan.  I was not wise, and used the zucchini first.  I wasn’t thinking.

Continue layering the veggies, adding desired handfuls of shredded cheese between select layers.  Although the particular order isn’t critical, it can be useful to alternate the larger pieces with layers of the less substantial items (mushrooms & spinach).

Here’s my suggestion from the bottom to the top of the pan, respectively:

Eggplant

Spinach

Mozza

Basil leaves

Zucchini

Mozza

Mushrooms

Tomatoes

Whole lotta mozza

Now you may look at the photo below and think there’s something wrong with my mozzarella.  You would be correct.  That would be because it’s partially cheddar.  I ended up buying one of those dainty globules of imported mozzarella, which turned out to be almost half the size of most domestic packages.  Although gorgeous, it proved to be a little bit insubstantial in volume.  So, the nubbin of cheddar in the fridge rapidly found itself called in to flesh out the cast.  You could also add a sprinkling of parmigiano, grana padano, or even an asiago as one of the layers, or mixed in on top.

Back to the mechanics of it: place the pan onto a large baking sheet (if you’re concerned about the juices spilling over and setting off fire alarms), and pop it into a 400° oven, and set the timer for about 45 minutes.  It may require less time than that, however, so definitely take a peek at 5 minute intervals after half an hour has passed.

Once the cheese has bronzed, and the veggies juices are burbling happily in the pan, remove from the oven, and allow to sit for about 10 minutes.  Trust me.  This stuff holds its temperature in ways which would make enriched uranium jealous.

It’s true that the quantity of cheese in this particular version doesn’t exactly make this a “light” meal.  However, since there’re no noodles, as in conventional lasagne,  one may feel inclined to serve it with garlic bread or any crusty bread for the upping of the carb factor.  And you should.

*most local vegans are aware of this stuff already, but feel free to substitute Daiya "cheese" in place of the mozzarella.  They've nailed it as far as cheese substitutes go!