Jon Bon Jovi Combines 2 Italian Classics In This Beloved Family Dish

Of all the creative takes on lasagna out there, one of the best has to come from an unexpected source: rocker Jon Bon Jovi. More specifically, it comes from his father, John Bongiovi Sr., who shared one of his best family recipes on a 2014 episode of "The Chew." The elder Bongiovi joined his son and Mario Batali on set to promote the family's line of premade pasta sauces and cook their Italian-Italian fusion dish, eggplant lasagna.

The dish is as simple as it is genius, and so good that you'd steal the sun from the sky for it. Instead of using sheets of pasta to layer the lasagna, the Bongiovi family uses slices of eggplant Parmesan. This not only adds an extra layer of flavor from the eggplant, but also brings in some nice textural contrast via its fried breading. On top of that, the specific recipe the family uses is vegetarian, so folks on meat-free diets can enjoy it, too.

The eggplant Parmesan-lasagna hybird deserves to be counted among some seriously delicious, but mostly unheard-of Italian recipes, and it comes from someone who knows a thing or two about Italian food. Bongiovi Sr., after all, has Sicilian roots; the family's Bongiovi-brand pasta sauce actually takes inspiration from his grandmother's recipes from over 135 years ago. While the eggplant lasagna probably isn't a traditional Sicilian dish in the strictest sense, you can at least be sure that every bit of it would be nonna-approved.

Since there's no guarantee the dish is served at Jon Bon Jovi's JBJ Soul Kitchen, your best chance at trying out the Bongiovi family recipe is to make it yourself. As Jon Bon Jovi and his dad demonstrated on "The Chew," the eggplant lasagna is made with three key components: eggplant Parmesan, tomato sauce, and a creamy mushroom, cheese, and spinach mixture.

You can make the first part by following this easy eggplant Parmesan recipe, while you can use pretty much any tomato sauce for the second (including store-bought). John Bongiovi Sr. went with Bongiovi Garden-Style sauce in the episode, but that flavor doesn't appear to be available anymore. Instead, you can make something similar, or use the Dad's Original flavor, which uses the same ingredients as the Garden-Style: tomatoes, bell peppers, mushrooms, onions, basil, and garlic.

With the eggplant and sauce done, you're halfway there. Make the cheese mixture by first sauteeing mushrooms in olive oil with garlic, oregano, and thyme. Let the mushrooms and herbs cool, then mix them into a blend of ricotta cheese, eggs, Parmigiano Reggiano, and spinach. Once you've got all the components ready, it's just a matter of layering the sauce, eggplant, and cheese, in that order, and ending with a final layer of sauce and cheese on top. Lastly, bake the lasagna so everything sets together.