Donald Link's Eggplant Casserole

Can you make this without sausage? Could you substitute mushrooms?

Unbelievably rich- The amount of béchamel and fontina is more than enough to hold together more layers of eggplant.I think I will try this again with double the eggplant. or more.

This is delicious and definitely falls squarely into rich comfort food. I used two large eggplants and reduced the béchamel by 1/4. Also reduced the cheese by a lot, used 6 oz of swiss cheese and only 1.5 oz shredded parmesan. This lightened it up a lot and it was still cheesy and delicious. Serve with a salad to add some freshness. perfect on a cold, winter day.

Ooof. Waay to much fat and salt. Use half the cheese, lots more eggplant, and no added salt. We couldn't eat it as it was, but plan to freeze it for topping over veggies and baked potatoes. It will last a long time. Very disappointing the way it is, and I followed the recipe exactly.

I made this last week, and it was great. It's a very rich, flavorful dish. I didn't have merguez sausage, but I did have linguica so I used that. It worked out very well.

This was a very weird but very tasty dish. I agree that the sauce could handle more fillings (more eggplant, more sausage). I might try 50% more next time. Definitely pair with a salad as you will need to balance with something light!

After browning/cooking the merguez in a large cast iron pan, use the same pan instead of a baking dish. Very presentable. Fewer things to wash! Delicious. Start with a fresh mint julep!

I listened to other’s notes. I used 2 large eggplants, about 3 pounds. I cut it to about 1/2” thick, 1/4” seemed way thin. I used a pound of chorizo and crumbled it. I’ll try the merguez next time, it’s harder to find. I used half the salt in the béchamel. I couldn’t find fontina on my first attempt so I used a 1/2 pound Italian 4 cheese blend with a little extra Parmesan. I layered it as directed into a larger 9x13 dish. Dollop the sauce. Refrigerated and baked for about 45 minutes.

I have to say that in my opinion this is a terrible recipe. I made it just as written and to my taste it calls for literally twice as much cheese as it should have in it. The eggplant was completely lost in an ocean of cheese, and the casserole was swimming in oil from the cheese. I might try it again, but really, more than a pound of cheese is overkill.

Whoa.... My family couldn't really eat this. Followed the recipe exactly. Very oily, and salty. If I were to make it again, I wouldn't add any salt (the cheese is salty enough), I'd double the eggplant and halve the cheese.

Doesn't quite work. VERY high sodium, hard to spread the sauce, REALLY rich. Followed the directions to the letter. Cut the cheese back, however much salt you wanna use on the eggplant slices? Quarter it. Consider adding a layer or two of lasagna noodles.

Or! Just make eggplant parmigiana.

Something is off about this recipe. You think, "These cannot possibly be the correct quantities of cheese." They're not -- it's a gloppy mess. It tastes good, but it's basically just cheese with a little eggplant and sausage! Drastically reduce the cheese and increase the eggplant (the sausage is probably just right) and it will probably be OK. But a casserole cooked for 15 minutes in a 400 degree oven is not going to look as deliciously browned as the photo.

If you read the recipe carefully, it says to cook the sausage and then cut it into rounds. You can't do that unless you leave it in the casings. Although, I don't imagine it would hurt to remove the meat from the casings and then cook it. It's all buried under a blanket of cheese and bechamel, between layers of eggplant.

Used 2 eggplants and substituted mushrooms for the sausage. Added garlic, paprika, red pepper flakes, coriander and fennel seeds to the mushroom saute. As others recommended, I cut the cheese in half. It was delicious.

On second thought, don't bother with this recipe. Too gooey, not enough egg plant and who can find merguez sausage anyway.