Serves 6

You won’t even miss the carbs in this ultra-delicious lasagna, featuring eggplant instead of traditional wheat pasta. This dish is so comforting, feast on it with loves ones or with leftovers on your own, you are going to want to make it more than once!

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant, ends removed & sliced in thin “noodle sheets”
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Pork Sausage:
1 pound of ground pork
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried fennel seeds
1 cup cherry tomatoes
½ cup fresh basil, minced
2 cups canned tomato sauce
1 6-ounce can of tomato paste
Ricotta:
1 ½ cups ricotta cheese
4 tablespoons plain cream cheese
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
Pinch of ground nutmeg
Zest from ½ fresh lemon
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
¼ cup fresh basil, minced
1/3 cup chopped toasted walnuts
Garnish: 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
Extra minced parsley & basil

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place sliced eggplant on a baking tray an hour or so before ready to make your lasagna so that it will “sweat” its excess water out. When you see little water droplets on the eggplant, wipe it dry with a clean towel.

Prepare your pork sausage by browning the pork with all of the seasonings until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Stir in cherry tomatoes, basil, tomato sauce and tomato paste. It will be a thick mixture.

Mix all ricotta ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

Build your lasagna by arranging 2 layers of eggplant, pork mixture, ricotta mixture, shredded mozzarella.

Bake in the oven until bubbly and all of the cheese is melted very well, about 40 minutes.

Remove from the oven and garnish with the remaining walnuts and serve between 6, storing any leftovers in a glass container for up to 3 days.

Enjoy!

Calories: 494
Carbs: 15
Net Carbs: 11
Protein: 30
Fat: 35