Recipe - Eggplant And Portobello (Lasagnas) With Roasted Tomato Vinai

1 pound Plum tomatoes; quartered
1 One half cup Coarsely chopped fennel bulb
1 tablespoon Olive oil
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
4 lg Japanese eggplants; trimmed,
each cut lengthwise into
four
1/3 Inchthick slices
3 md Portobello mushrooms; stems
trimmed, caps cut or sliced up
1 tablespoon Rice vinegar
3 cup Spinach leaves; rinsed
4 Thin slices lowfat
mozzarella cheese
2 Roasted red bell peppers
from jar; drained, cut into
1/2inchwide strips
8 lg Basil leaves

These individual vegetable terrines can be assembled a day ahead.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Arrange tomatoes and fennel in 13x9x2inch glass
baking dish. Drizzle oil over; toss to blend. Bake until fennel is tender
and begins to brown, about 45 minutes. Cool.

Spray 2 nonstick baking sheets with vegetable oil spray. Arrange eggplant
and mushroom slices on prepared sheets. Bake until vegetables are tender,
about 30 minutes for eggplant slices and 40 minutes for mushrooms. Puree
tomato mixture in processor. Transfer to strainer set over bowl. Press on
solids to extract liquid; discard solids. Stir vinegar into liquid. Season
vinaigrette with salt and pepper.

Stir spinach in large nonstick skillet over mediumhigh heat until wilted,
about 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray four 1 1/4cup custard dishes with vegetable
oil spray. Line each dish with 2 eggplant slices in crisscross pattern.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top each with One fourth of spinach. Top each with
1 mozzarella slice. Arrange pepper strips over, then basil and mushrooms.
Top with remaining eggplant slices, cutting to fit. Sprinkle with salt and
pepper. Cover each dish with foil. (Vinaigrette and lasagnas can be made 1
day ahead. Cover separately; chill.)

Bake lasagnas until very tender, about 25 minutes. Remove foil. Using small
knife, cut around vegetables to loosen. Invert onto plates. Spoon
vinaigrette over.

Serves 4.

Per Serving: calories, 163; total fat, 6g; saturated fat, 1g; cholesterol,
4mg.

Bon Appétit November 1997

Posted to recipeludigest by Sandy sandysno@pctech.net on Feb 27, 1998