Vegetable and Sausage Parmigiana is a new spin on Eggplant Parmigiana.

One of my favorite dishes to make for the holidays or family functions is Eggplant Parmigiana.  I make it for nearly every get together because it’s always a big hit.  Well this year at Christmas I went to get all the ingredients for my Eggplant Parmigiana and much to my surprise there seemed to be a shortage of eggplants!!!  I must have gone to 4 different stores looking for eggplant and there was only some sad few left that looked like they walked to the produce department.

I was in a bind and already had all the ingredients for Eggplant Parmigiana – minus the EGGPLANT!!! And it was Xmas eve morning and I needed to make something ASAP!!  

So I made a VEGGIE and Sausage PARMIGIANA on the fly.

Now mind you….I LOVE to cook but I don’t always have the time to make everything from scratch so I sometimes fake it till I make it…… 

VEGGIE and SAUSAGE PARMIGIANA

Ingredients:

• 1 jar of Newman’s Marinara Sauce
• 1 – 16oz. can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 eggplant (I did manage to find ONE decent one on my shopping spree)
• 4 peppers (any color will do)
• Sweet Italian Sausage  (6-8 links) – feel free to use chicken, turkey or pork sausage
• 2 heads of cauliflower
• Olive oil (for brushing the veggies)
• 1 – 12oz bag of shredded parmesan cheese
• 1 – 12oz bag of shredded mozzarella cheese (use only if dairy doesn’t bother you or double the parmesan cheese).
• Italian seasonings, salt, pepper, etc.

Directions:

1.        Make your sauce by sauteeing the onions in olive oil (generally enough oil to cover the bottom of your pan).  Saute until soft.   Then add the jar of Newman’s sauce and about 10oz. of the  crushed tomatoes.  Add desired seasonings, salt and pepper to your liking.

2.       Slice the eggplant and brush with olive oil on both sides.  Halve the peppers and brush with olive oil.  Trim the cauliflower into florets and toss in some olive oil. 

3.       Roast veggies at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes until tender BUT NOT MUSHY.

4.       Broil the sausage in the oven for recommended amount of time until done. Then slice the sausage into rounds.

5.       Once the sausage and veggies are done cooking it is time to start layering.

Place Eggplant as first layer and cover the entire bottom of the pan with eggplant slices

Layer with some sauce (not too much, just enough to lightly cover the eggplant and sprinkle with shredded parmesan cheese and some shredded mozzarella (if dairy doesn’t bother you). 

Add the sausage as the next layer.

Repeat with sauce and cheese.

Add the peppers.

Repeat with sauce and cheese.

Add the cauliflower.

Repeat with sauce and cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees until thoroughly heated and sauce starts to bubble – about 30 minutes.

ENJOY!!!