what to do with a plant made of eggs

i love eggplant.  i know that i'm somewhat of a minority in this, but i love it anyway.  so when i venture through the produce section i always pick some up, even if i have no idea what i'm going to do with it.  when i first started this diet, back in december, i said to myself, "self, what are we going to do with this eggplant?"  and i decided that if i sliced it really thinly, maybe i could use it like the pasta in a lasagna.  that recipe has evolved a bit to become more of a casserole, but here it is, eggplant, italian sausage and Alfredo hot dish.  yields eight servings, cook time + prep time ~1 hour, ~3.46 carbs per serving.

ingredients:

2 cups cream
2 lbs hot Italian sausage
6oz spinach, coarsely chopped
0.75 yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
4 oz parmesan cheese, grated
4 oz asiago cheese, grated
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic salt
0.5 tsp black pepper
0.5 tsp red pepper
0.5 tsp beef base
~1 lb eggplant
0.25 cup water

• optional: evidently the skin of the eggplant adds extra carbs to this recipe.  it also adds vitamins and minerals so i leave it in, but you may remove the skin if you choose.
• in a large frying pan, over medium temperature, heat 1tbsp of olive oil and add garlic and onion.  cook until translucent.  add Italian sausage and break it up into small pieces.  add beef base and water and mix well.  top with spinach, salt, peppers, and Italian seasoning.  cover pan with lid and let stew for ~5 minutes.
• remove lid from pan and turn heat to high.  stir well and cook until the moisture is cooked off.
• slice the eggplant into thin slices, i'm talking 2 - 3mm slices.  i had to use these Japanese eggplant because the store was all out of the big ones, which is exciting, 'cause i've never used them before.  set aside.
• begin Alfredo by putting 2 cups of cream in a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat.  when this begins to bubble, add 1/4 of your cheese mixture and mix in well until completely melted.  repeat with cheese 2 more times, setting aside 1/4 of your cheese to put on top of casserole.  set aside cream sauce.
• preheat oven to 350F.  cover the bottom of like a 9"x13" well greased baking dish with 0.33 of the eggplant slices.  top with half of the sausage mixture.  add the second 0.33 of the eggplant slices and top with the remaining sausage mixture.  finish with the remaining eggplant slices and cover with all of the cream sauce.  smooth out the top of the casserole so there's no pieces that will dry out.  top with the remaining cheese and throw that puppy in the oven for ~20-30 minutes until bubbly and nom nom nom.  i have a gas oven and i like it a little browned on top so i put it under the broiler for about 2 minutes.

that's all she wrote.  it turns out consistently yummy and lovely.  casseroles get a bad name 'cause of canned soup and frozen veggies, but this one's alright, i promise.

so that was dinner, and i survived another day on this dang diet