Lentil and ricotta eggplant parmigiana

Try this low calorie, vegetarian lentil and ricotta aubergine parmigiana, its a delicious meat-free meal, high in calcium and fibre, a deliciously creamy and fragrant dish that takes little effort to make!

Serves: 4
Time to make: 50 mins

Total cost: $ 29.04 / $ 7.26 per serve

(at time of publication)

Ingredients

2 large eggplantaubergineXs
oil spray
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, diced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 medium tomatoes, chopped
400g can no-added-salt lentils, rinsed and drained
cracked black pepper
1 cup ricotta
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
¼ cup finely grated parmesan
4 cups baby rocketarugulaX
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a large baking tray with baking paper. Cut each eggplant lengthways into four flat 1cm-thick slices. Lightly spray both sides of each slice with olive oil. Place on the prepared tray and bake for 15–20 minutes, or until golden and tender.
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat half of the olive oil over medium heat. Gently fry onion and celery for 5 minutes, or until softened. Add cumin and garlic and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute, or until fragrant. Add tomatoes and lentils. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, or until thick. Season with cracked black pepper.
In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, basil and half of the parmesan.
Top each eggplant slice with 1/8 of the lentil mixture, then top with the ricotta mixture. Sprinkle with remaining parmesan. Return to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. In a salad bowl, toss rocket with balsamic vinegar and the remaining oil. Serve eggplant parmigiana with rocket salad.