The 2 Classic Italian Dishes Jon Bon Jovi Combines For Seriously Rockstar Flavor

Jon Bon Jovi is best known as the lead singer and founder of the rock band Bon Jovi, but when he's not on stage, he likes to cook. Specifically, he loves his family-favorite dish that sounds hard to resist: eggplant lasagna. The dish is essentially a mashup of eggplant Parm and classic lasagna, with the main difference being that typical lasagna noodles are swapped for breaded and fried eggplant.

Bon Jovi uses his own Bongiovi brand pasta sauce at the base of the lasagna, and creates a ricotta mixture with ingredients like sauteed mushrooms, spinach, Parmigiano-Reggiano, eggs, and oregano. The mixture is layered between fried eggplant that's prepared the way an eggplant Parm would be; you assemble the lasagna the same way you would a regular lasagna. Then, it's all covered and baked for an hour at 400 degrees Fahrenheit with more sauce and Parmigiano Reggiano. When that's done, you add more sauce, mozzarella cheese, and basil leaves, then bake uncovered for 15 minutes more. 

The Bongiovi line appears to have three sauces on the market: marinara, arrabbiata, and Dad's Original. That last one is made with fresh herbs and is based on a recipe from Bon Jovi's father, and any of the sauces can be used for the eggplant lasagna depending on the flavor profile you're looking for. You could even try a rich vodka sauce — it adds creaminess to eggplant Parmesan, after all.

While his eggplant lasagna dish is a family staple, Jon Bon Jovi's connection with food runs deeper than this comforting dish. Bon Jovi's JBJ Soul Foundation launched its first kitchens in 2009 to feed those in need, then opened a permanent brick-and-mortar location in Red Bank, New Jersey (Bon Jovi's home state) in 2011. The restaurant has pop-up locations in various parts of the state, too, including one on a Rutgers University campus.

The restaurant works on a pay-it-forward model, where customers can either pay a suggested donation price (there are no actual menu prices) or, if they need a meal for free, they can "pay" for it in the form of volunteering with the foundation, so you can essentially pay what you wish. While Bon Jovi's family recipe for the eggplant lasagna serves as a tasty reminder of his roots, his success in the music industry has helped him turn that love into a way to help others, too.