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Old 01-15-2021, 01:52 PM   #1
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Eggplant Lasagna Bummer

Just when I think I am a fairly good cook, I fall completely on my face. I found a recipe on line (recipe follows) for Eggplant Lasagna. It said to salt (heavily, my interpretation) the sliced egg plant, both sides, and let rest. Then wipe the salt off and layer in an Instant Pot using (Amazon) Fat Daddio's Round Cheesecake Pan, 7 x 3 Inch, Silver. It came out so salty we could not eat it. Maybe I should have quickly rinsed both sides of the eggplant then dried off with a paper towel.

It also said to mix up a batch of ricotta cheese. The result was the ricotta mixing with the marinara and running out.

I am going to try using lasagna noodles with a layer of ricotta cheese mixture and see if that might work.

Maybe trying to make lasagna in an IP pot is not such a good idea. What could I be doing wrong? I followed the darn recipe, which follows:

Ingredients

2 medium zucchinis,, sliced lengthwise
2 small eggplants,, sliced crosswise
1 tbsp coarse salt, , plus more for seasoning
1 25 oz jar high-quality marinara sauce
1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
1 large egg
1/2 cup shredded parmesan
1 package Mozzarella Shreds, (2 cups)
2 tbsp basil fresh, chopped
1/2 cup basil pesto, for topping (optional but recommended)
2 tbsp fresh basil leaves,, chopped

Place the eggplant and zucchini slices on a large cutting board and salt. Allow to sit for 20-30 minutes so they release some water. Wipe the water and salt away with a paper towel.
In a bowl, combine ricotta cheese, garlic, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, basil and 1/4 cup of Parmesan Cheese and taste. Add salt and pepper if needed. Add egg and mix well together. Place a layer of sauce onto the bottom of the pan. Top with one layer each of zucchini, eggplant, ricotta mixture then the shredded cheese. Continue layering once more, ending with a final layer of just sauce and cheese.
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Old 01-15-2021, 03:03 PM   #2
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Originally Posted by Rzrbrn View Post
It said to salt (heavily, my interpretation) the sliced egg plant, both sides, and let rest.
Did you salt the Zucchini and Eggplant with the single tablespoon of salt listed in the ingredients? If you used more, that is where you probably went wrong. I make Zucchini pancakes and after shredding the zucchini, I put it in a bowl and mix at most a couple of tablespoons of salt if a big batch and let it sit. It doesn't take a lot of salt to cause the vegetables to shed moisture.
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Old 01-15-2021, 03:59 PM   #3
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Thanks Alex, that could be at least part of the problem. I really dumped on the salt, at least half a cup, thinking I could scrape and brush it off. Next time I will use a salt shaker and use much less.

Any thoughts about the ricotta liquifying and leaking out? The egg should have solidified it.

There are many people even baking cakes in the Instant Pot so I should be able to get this right suing the IP.
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Old 01-15-2021, 04:10 PM   #4
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Any thoughts about the ricotta liquifying and leaking out? The egg should have solidified it.
Wow! You really overdid the salt!

I have no idea on that one. I've made lasagna but not in an Instant Pot. When I have made it, I've used Lasagna noodles in between the layers.

The one thing I can think of would be to buy a marinara sauce where the first ingredient is whole tomatoes. I have noticed the cheaper ones use pureed tomatoes with no whole tomatoes and tend to be watery. Try boiling off some moisture from the sauce.
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Old 01-16-2021, 08:57 AM   #5
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I will try boiling off some of the liquid from the sauce before using it to make Lasagna. Thank you. Why did I not think of that?

The recipe said to salt both sides of the eggplant and let it rest. I thought using a lot of salt would really firm up the eggplant and most if not all the salt would be brushed or wiped off. Guess not. This is what I needed to understand, Thank you Alex.
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Old 01-16-2021, 10:04 AM   #6
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Forget about it!!!

Don’t bother salting. It’s meant to draw out moisture. I just cook in micro about a minute between paper towels. Then use any way you want.
Try Mario Batali’s stacked Eggplant! I precook or fry the eggplant instea d of roast. Also use half the cheese and more sauce! Gobsmacking!!! You can micro the dish-covered-if you don’t have oven! Will make in Dutch oven if placed inside another pan.
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Old 01-16-2021, 10:26 AM   #7
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Salty Lasagna

[QUOTE=Rzrbrn;802554It said to salt (heavily, my interpretation) the sliced egg plant, both sides, and let rest. Then wipe the salt off and layer in an Instant Pot using (Amazon) Fat Daddio's Round Cheesecake Pan, 7 x 3 Inch, Silver. It came out so salty we could not eat it. Maybe I should have quickly rinsed both sides of the eggplant then dried off with a paper towel.
[/QUOTE]
I regularly make eggplant lasagna. As mentioned previously, the salt is meant to remove water from the eggplant. You definitely don't want to rinse the eggplant in water afterwards as you just defeated the purpose of the salt. I have a dehydrator I use. I dehydrate the eggplant for about 30 to 45 minutes. No salt needed in this case. You can also put the eggplant your oven on very low heat and let the eggplant dry out in the oven. Use your oven's lowest temperature. When using the salt, very little is needed. Lightly salt both sides. I put it on a baker's rack which allows the water to drip away from the eggplant. If using salt, I allow it to sit for about 2 hours then shake as much moisture off as possible and use paper towels to further dry the eggplant. Drying the eggplant out keeps the eggplant from being mushy when baked or cooked. Also do not add salt in addition to salting the eggplant.
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Old 01-16-2021, 10:41 AM   #8
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IP liquids

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Originally Posted by Rzrbrn View Post
Any thoughts about the ricotta liquefying and leaking out? The egg should have solidified it.
Did you cover the lasagna with foil or a lid. Steam will collect if things are not covered and even then, moisture will collect. After the food is done, use paper towels to wick the moisture out. At the temperature the IP is cooking any cheese is going to liquefy to some degree.
You made no mention what mode of the IP you were using to make the lasagna. Did you cook under pressure? Quick or slow release?
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Old 01-16-2021, 11:00 AM   #9
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I used a 6 quart Instant Pot as recommended in the following excerpt from the recipe:

Close the lid, press “Manual” and immediately adjust the timer to 20 minutes. Check that the cooking pressure is on “high” and that the release valve is set to “Sealing”.
When time is up, allow the IP to naturally release pressure for 10 minutes, then open the IP using “Quick Pressure Release”. Using the foil sling as “handles”, carefully remove lasagna from IP.
Remove foil, and pop under the broiler a few minutes to brown cheese. Allow to rest for 10 minutes, then serve. Top with basil pesto and freshly chopped basil, if desired.
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Old 01-16-2021, 11:08 AM   #10
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I will try the bake in the oven recommendation, and/or the microwave idea, when next doing an Eggplant dish: I like this even better than just using less salt. I don't have a dehydrator.

Thanks everyone for responding.
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Old 01-20-2021, 02:22 PM   #11
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Eggplant lasagna is one of our favorites. I make mine using my larger air fryer. (I have two sizes.)

To release moisture from the sliced eggplant, I cook the slices for 6 minutes or so, around 380 degrees. Just a little spray olive oil.
Let cool on paper towels before assembling.
Since it's just the two of us, usually, I'll bake the assembled lasagna in the air fryer, too. Waxed paper between the tomato sauce topping and the sealing foil. Doesn't heat up the kitchen, uses less power.
My sister gave me an instant pot a few months ago, but I've yet to use it.
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Old 01-21-2021, 11:14 AM   #12
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Use Parchment Paper Instead of Waxed Paper

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Originally Posted by SherryNPaul View Post
Since it's just the two of us, usually, I'll bake the assembled lasagna in the air fryer, too. Waxed paper between the tomato sauce topping and the sealing foil.
May I strongly suggest the use of parchment paper instead of waxed paper. Waxed paper is not designed for use in a hot oven. Parchment paper is. I buy the large rolls of parchment paper from Costco. I go through a lot of it as it minimizes clean up with most things. Particularly good for sheet pans, bread pans, and I would think that in almost any situation where you wish to minimize food baking on to your dishes and pans.

Your eggplant lasagna sounds really good.

Give the IP a try, once you use it, you will find it is an indispensable tool in the kitchen. Hard boiled eggs, yogurt, rice, stew, beans. There are lots of YouTube videos on how to cook just about everything in the IP.
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Old 01-21-2021, 02:14 PM   #13
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I just baked eggplant parmesan in the house oven. I first lightly salted the eggplant slices and let them sit on a rack for about 3 hours then dipped in flour, then egg, then panko and parmesan cheese, then baked on a rack. After baking the slices I layered into a glass baking pan with marinara sauce and baked again. It turned out great. I may try the eggplant lasagna again in the Insta Pot, now that I picked myself up off the ground...
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Old 01-22-2021, 08:36 AM   #14
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Yum!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rzrbrn View Post
I just baked eggplant parmesan in the house oven. I first lightly salted the eggplant slices and let them sit on a rack for about 3 hours then dipped in flour, then egg, then panko and parmesan cheese, then baked on a rack. After baking the slices I layered into a glass baking pan with marinara sauce and baked again. It turned out great. I may try the eggplant lasagna again in the Insta Pot, now that I picked myself up off the ground...
Sounds perfect! Never thought about the flour, egg, panko and Parmesan cheese approach before.

I like to add fresh sliced mushrooms, meat sauce, grated mozzarella cheese, and sun dried tomatoes in the layers between the eggplant layers. I think your breaded treatment would make it even better.

Thank you for the post.
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