Recipe of the Week: Eggplant Florentine with Turkey

This week, I experimented with a new recipe I found in an old vintage book I bought earlier this year, "Recipes and Reminscences of New Orleans."

While many of the recipes include a ton of ingredients and a lot of fresh fish, I found a very simple dish packed with flavor—the only way New Orleans knows how to do food, period. This meal is a great mix of healthy with a little indulgence on top. Instead of using ground beef, I made it with ground turkey, which worked out perfectly.

Eggplant Florentine with Turkey

What you need:

1 medium sized eggplant

4 tablespoons butter

1 pound ground turkey

1 tablespoon minced onion

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon basil leaves

1/4 teaspoon oregano

Marinara sauce

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 pound Mozzarella cheese—slices

What you do:

Wash eggplant and cut into 1/2 inch slices. Melt butter, add eggplant and brown lightly on both sides. Place in shallow, two-quart baking dish. Then, add ground turkey, onion, salt, pepper, sugar, basil leaves and oregano to the skillet. Mix well and cook until meat is browned.

Spoon meat mixture over the eggplant, then add marinara sauce on top of the meat evenly across the dish. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Place mozzarella cheese slices on top of the dish, then bake for 10 more minutes or until the cheese is melted. Serve and enjoy!