Swiss Chard, Eggplant, and Mushroom Lasagna

This recipe calls for a lot of vegetables since they lose volume when cooked. To break up the cooking time, you can prep and cook the eggplant, Swiss chard, and mushrooms (steps 1 through 3) in advance. Cover and refrigerate up to 1 day.







 






Ingredients
3 medium eggplant, trimmed (3 pounds)
3½ pounds Swiss chard, thick stems trimmed, chopped
12 ounces mushrooms, chopped (about 3 cups)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
¼ teaspoon red-pepper flakes
3 cups part-skim ricotta, drained
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
4 cups prepared reduced-sodium marinara sauce
1 package (9 ounces) no-boil lasagna noodles, preferably whole wheat
1½ cups grated part-skim mozzarella cheese (about 6 ounces)
¼ cup grated Parmesan (about 1 ounce)

1 HEAT the broiler. Slice the eggplant lengthwise, 1⁄3″ thick. Coat the slices on both sides with cooking spray and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet, working in two batches, and broil 6″ from the heat until browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip and broil until the opposite sides are browned and the flesh is very tender, 2 to 3 minutes.

2 FILL a large pot with about ½″ of water and place a steamer basket inside. Bring the water to a boil over high heat and add the Swiss chard, working in two batches. Reduce the heat to medium low, cover, and simmer until tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a colander and drain thoroughly. When cool enough to handle, squeeze the chard tightly with your hands to extract as much water as possible and blot the chard dry with a clean kitchen towel.

3 HEAT the oven to 400°F. Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and liquid has evaporated, 6 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium low, add the garlic and pepper flakes, and cook 1 minute. Add the Swiss chard and cook until heated through and any liquid has evaporated, 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

4 COMBINE the ricotta, egg, and egg whites in a large bowl and season with freshly ground black pepper.

5 SPREAD 1 cup of the marinara sauce over the bottom of a deep-dish, 9″ × 13″ baking dish. Add 4 noodles and cover with half of the ricotta, then half of the eggplant, then half of the Swiss chard-mushroom mixture, then ½ cup of the mozzarella, and then 1 cup of the sauce. Repeat the layers again, starting with the noodles and ending with 1 cup sauce. Top with a third layer of noodles (you may have some leftover), the remaining 1 cup sauce, and ½ cup mozzarella. Top with the Parmesan.

6 COVER with foil and bake 35 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese is lightly browned, 15 minutes longer. Rest 30 minutes, slice into 10 pieces, and serve.

NUTRITION (per serving) 401 calories, 26 g protein, 44 g carbs, 16 g fat, 7 g saturated fat, 791 mg sodium