Vegetable Lasagna

It's Friday. Oh man. I'm too tired to think of anything witty to say. It's my 7th day of work in a row, and I'm ready to get this show on the road so I can have a few days off. So...today I present to you - veggie lasagna!

This is pretty much identical to my meat lasagna recipe. Except this time I used a little less cheese. I didn't measure it, but after looking back at the first recipe I know I definitely didn't use a cup and a half of ricotta. Probably a cup. So a little less pesto too.



Sauce:
olive oil
1/2 white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 14 oz. can chopped Italian tomatoes
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
1 cup hot water
1 Tbl oregano
1/4 cup red wine

1 small zucchini, diced
1 small yellow squash, diced
1 small eggplant, diced
1 pint cremini mushrooms (or equal amount portobello), sliced
1 package lasagna noodles
1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese
4 Tbl pesto

If your lasagna noodles require boiling, set a large pot of water to heat up while you prepare the sauce and veal.

Get the sauce going first - this can simmer while you do everything else. In a medium saucepan heat up some olive oil and saute the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes. Add the red wine and let the alcohol reduce for a couple minutes. Add the tomato paste, canned tomatoes, and water. Stir until smooth. Add the oregano and let simmer.

Heat up a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Add the zucchini, squash, eggplant, and some salt and pepper. Cook for about 5-10 minutes, or until vegetables begin to soften. Add mushrooms and cook for another 10 minutes or so until vegetables are completely cooked.

Boil your lasagna noodles. I didn't have to cook my noodles, but some recipes say to lay cooked noodles on a damp kitchen towel to keep them from sticking to each other. You could also drain them and add some cold water to the pot to keep them from sticking, and from continuing to cook in the hot water. Just make sure to pat them dry before layering into the baking dish.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix the ricotta and pesto in a bowl. Add a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of the baking dish, to keep your first layer of noodles from sticking. Add a layer of noodles, not overlapping. Next spread some of the ricotta mixture over the noodles. Sprinkle mozzarella, then parmesan, then some of the vegetables, and lastly spoon some sauce over everything. Then start over - noodles, ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, vegetables, sauce. Keep layering until the dish is full and you've used all your ingredients. For the top layer I did just noodles, then sauce and the cheeses on the top. Lightly cover with foil and cook about 35 minutes. Take the foil off and put under the broiler for just a couple minutes at the end, to brown the cheese on the top. **If your baking dish is really full to the top, put a layer of foil under it in the oven to prevent any spillover from dripping onto the oven.




Look at all those layers of cheesy vegetable goodness. Oooo yum, I'm so glad I have some left for lunch today.