Vegetable lasagna has quickly overtaken meat lasagna as my favorite. While we were visiting family this summer, I made it for my in-laws using the produce they had on hand. I managed to chock it full of even more vegetables than I had in the past. My in-laws enjoyed it, which is a good sign, because they both tend to have bland palates. If they like it, I'm pretty sure the picky eater in your life might at least give it a shot.
Notes: This dish admits of a lot of variation, so use whatever veggies you like. You need some combination of (a) veggies that you can slice thinly (eggplant, squash, zucchini, carrots, turnips, beets, etc.) and (b) some form of leafy green (spinach, swiss chard, mustard greens, turnip greens, kale, arugula, etc.). Other than that, there are no rules.
My slicing was made infinitely easier by my new favorite kitchen friend:
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| Hello, mandolin! |
I have made this dish with sauce from a jar and with sauce from scratch. I rarely just use the sauce from a jar straight; I like to jazz it up a little to get rid of the jarred flavor. Whatever sauce you use, just be sure you have about 5 or 6 cups of it.
Lasagna isn't complex, there are just a lot of steps. Most of the work goes into prepping the ingredients so that you can assemble them all. The thing I love most about it is that once your assemble it and get it in the oven, you can clean up all your prep mess and just wait for it bake.
If you're a busy person, you can do a lot of stuff in advance. Do all or some of the prep the night before, leave everything in the fridge, and then put it all together before you're ready to bake.
Ingredients:
-1 box no-boil lasagna noodles
-2 small yellow squash
-2 large carrots
-1/2 pound baby spinach
-15 oz. ricotta cheese
-2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
-1 small ball of mozzarella
-6 cups pre-made pasta sauce, homemade sauce, or can of crushed tomatoes (all 26 oz. to 28 oz.)
-1 leek, cleaned
-6 garlic cloves
-10 fresh basil leaves, chopped and divided
-1 tablespoon each of dried onion, garlic, basil, and parsley
-1 teaspoon dried oregano
-Pinch red pepper flakes
-Salt
-Pepper
Directions:
Heat oven to 375.
Start by prepping your veggies. Peel your carrots and slice them into 1/4-1/8 inch rounds. Do the same with the squash and set them aside.
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Add your jar of sauce (or crushed tomatoes) and all your dried herbs. Season again with salt and pepper. Stir, reduce the heat to simmer. The sauce can sit as long as it needs to until you're ready to use it. Right before you do the assembly, remove it from the heat and stir in half the fresh basil.
Empty your ricotta cheese into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add half the fresh basil.
Chop the baby spinach and add that too.
Stir until the mixture is well-combined.
Now you're ready to assemble!
Follow this layering formula:
1 cup sauce
4 sheets pasta
1/3 ricotta mixture
Layer of sliced veggies
1 cup sauce
Follow that layering formula two more times (three times total). For the last layer, add the pasta sheets, then pour the rest of your sauce on top.
To finish it up, slice your ball of fresh mozzarella and cover the top with the thin slices.
Cover the dish with foil and bake for 45 minutes. After the 40 minutes, take the foil off and finish the cooking. The cheese will get slightly browned. I forgot to take a reveal photo, but trust me it's beautiful.
Let it stand for 10 minutes (or however long you can possibly wait). Serve and enjoy!
May I recommend pesto as an ingredient?
ReplyDeleteThis, too, can be adapted for a slow cooker, though unless your cooker is huge you'll have to halve the noodles to fit them in, or use a different noodle entirely and just make a generic baked veggie pasta dish.
Also-- the slow cooker is just brilliant for making a big batch of sauce. Let your ingredients simmer on low for 8 or 9 hours. It is heavenly, and it freezes nicely.
Pesto sounds like an excellent addition. Do you mix it with the ricotta? Or do you use it in between the layers?
ReplyDeleteYou are like a slow cooker magician! I never thought of making a big batch of sauce that way. It's brilliant.
On a side note, have you ever tried slow cooker oatmeal? I saw it on the site you sent me and I am very intrigued.
Freaky you should ask that. Right now, for the very first time ever, I am making oatmeal in my little (1.5 qt) slow cooker.
ReplyDeleteBackstory that is probably boring to everyone but me: For a couple of years I have been eating yogurt for my daily breakfast, but the more I learn about global warming, the more I learn that meat and dairy and not so good for the climate. My dairy subscription to the local CSA just ended, so now I need a new breakfast staple. Steel-cut oats seem just the thing.
For today's oatmeal experiment I am using the last of that local milk. Results due around 8 this evening. For future oatmeal I will use either soymilk or perhaps just water.
I use the pesto as its own layer.
When I've tried making my tomato sauce on the stovetop, it has inevitably turned out bland, no matter how many tasty spices I stuff in there. The slow cooker does wonders for it. I use my big 6-qt cooker. When it has finished I smoothify it with my immersion blender, but if you prefer chunky sauce you'll skip that step.
Let me know the verdict on the oatmeal!
ReplyDeleteAfter 4 hours on low it was threatening to bubble out. Fortuitously it seemed done to me. The slightly odd thing was that there was a bit of a slimy texture, like what you get with okra. I think this came from the flax seeds that I'd cooked along with the oats. It's still quite tasty, though I think next time I'll add the flax after I've finished cooking, along with walnuts and fresh fruit.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a pinch of salt, too, next time around, with variations on a theme of cinnamon or brown sugar or vanilla if I'm feeling decadent.