You don't have to pre-boil pasta for baked dishes

ricotta cheese

🥗Healthier: cottage cheese

💰Cheaper: cream cheese

Cottage cheese is lower in fat and provides a similar texture.

ground beef

🥗Healthier: ground turkey

💰Cheaper: ground pork

Ground turkey is leaner, while ground pork can be less expensive.

mozzarella cheese

🥗Healthier: part-skim mozzarella

💰Cheaper: provolone cheese

Part-skim mozzarella reduces calories while provolone can be more affordable.

Parmesan cheese

🥗Healthier: nutritional yeast

💰Cheaper: grated Pecorino Romano

Nutritional yeast is dairy-free and adds a cheesy flavor.

Assemble the ingredients without boiling the pasta.

Add a pinch of salt to the ingredients.

Top off with enough water to cover everything.

Bake as usual, possibly adding a few extra minutes if needed.

For the eggplant, cut into big cubes and fry in olive oil until soft and mahogany brown, stirring constantly for about 20 minutes.

Add half of the cooked eggplant to one dish and the other half to another dish.

In each dish, add 3 cups of tomato sauce.

Add a cup of ricotta cheese into each dish.

Tear fresh mozzarella into balls and distribute five in each dish.

Season with chili flakes, black pepper, and a pinch of salt.

Stir one dish to homogenize it and divide that in half by weight into the remaining half batch.

In the second dish, add a quarter pound of raw dry pasta and stir.

Add just enough water to ensure everything is submerged in the second dish.

Add a little extra salt to the second dish to compensate for not boiling the pasta.

Taste the watered-down sauce to ensure it is a little too salty on its own.

Bake both dishes for one hour, checking after half an hour for doneness.

If desired, cover the dish to control how dark and crispy the top gets.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Dietary

Allergens