STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

We had a version of this on our Honeymoon, so I tried recreating it when we got home.  It turned out pretty good!  It also happens to be vegetarian , and you'd never miss the meat!  I baked these in individual ramekins so I cut the eggplant into rounds.  If you want to do it in a larger baking dish, cut the eggplant lengthwise into 'noodle-like' strips.

Preheat oven to 350.  Peel one large eggplant and slice into 1/8 thick rounds (I used a mandolin) and brush lightly with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and bake on an oiled cookie sheet for 15-20 minutes (until they've dried/browned a bit).  Remove and cool on paper plates until you can handle them, 5-10 minutes.

Turn oven up to 425.

To make the cheese filling, cream together 2 small rolls of goat cheese and two big dollops of ricotta cheese (I like fat free ricotta) with some granulated garlic, pepper, and whatever italian herbs you have on hand.

In your ramekins or a baking dish, put just enough spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the dish to coat it.  Lay down a layer of eggplant.  Put a spoonful of the cheese mixture on top of the eggplant layer, and lay another eggplant layer over that.  Press down on the top eggplant layer to squish the cheese into an even layer.  Lay down another thin layer of sauce, and then add   another cheese layer and eggplant layer, pressing to squish cheese down.  Top with shredded provolone cheese and bake for 25 minutes or until cheese is brown and bubbly.  Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.