Aubergine and spinach lasagna

This was one of my first 'inventions' on the culinary front. I don't really know what thought process led to this recipe, but it's been a hit with friends and family ever since.



Ingredients:

• 2 eggplants
• 3 tbsp of olive oil
• oregano
• salt and pepper
• 250g of spinach (I use pre-cut frozen spinach, but you can use fresh spinach, blanched and chopped, too)
• 250g of ricotta
• nutmeg
• milk & Maizena roux (or you can prepare a white sauce from scratch, of course)
• grated cheese, I like gruyère
• lasagna

Preheat the oven at 200°C. Cut the eggplants lenght-wise. Mix the olive oil, the oregano and some salt and pepper, and rub both sides of the eggplants with it. Grill the slices in the oven until soft and light brown.

'Unfreeze' (I could hardly call it melt, now could I?) the spinach and mix with the ricotta, nutmeg and some salt.

Heat the milk at moderate heat, and when it's almost at boiling point, mix in the Maizena roux to make a white sauce. Season with some nutmeg and salt, then add a little bit of the grated cheese to make a light cheese sauce.

Now you're ready to start layering. In a lasagna dish, alternate a piece of lasagna with either a spoon of white sauce and eggplant or a few spoonfulls of the spinach mixture. End with a layer of aubergines covered in white sauce on top, and sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake in the oven at 200°C for 20 minutes (or however long the lasagna package says is necessary).