Five years ago when I was exploring the idea of becoming a vegetarian, I came up with this vegetarian lasagna. My family has been requesting it ever since. It had been a little while since I made it, so I decided to have the whole family (my mom, dad, brother, and nephew) over for dinner and have a lasagna feast. My dad and my husband prefer my Traditional Lasagna, and because I love them very much I made two lasagnas.
On this saturday, my mom came over early and we spent the entire afternoon together. We made the lasagna’s, garlic bread, played with beauty products, organized stuff in my bedroom, and shared several cups of tea <3.
To make the lasagna, first step is to make the spaghetti sauce. Click here for the recipe. Spaghetti Sauce. The sauce should simmer for 4 hours, but if you can make it a day ahead of time, that is truly the best. The flavors really come through better.
Ingredients:
Large batch of Spaghetti Sauce
1 Package of Lasagna Noodles
2 green zuchinni’s
1 yellow zuchinni
1 cup of slice mushrooms
1/2 yellow onion
1 red pepper
2 tbps olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp each of oregano, thyme, rosemary
Fresh Basil for the topping ( optional)
2 16 oz containers of cottage cheese
Ball(s) of fresh mozzarella Belgioioso is my favorite brand. I love the little packets of 3 mozz balls, or the larger one in a tub with water.
After the sauce is made, prep the vegetables. Cut the zucchini’s in half and then slice them 1/4 inch thin. Slice the mushrooms and dice the onion and red pepper.
Add 2 tbsp of olive oil to a skillet and let heat up for 1-2 minutes. Add the vegetables to the pan, and sauté them on medium to high heat, until they start to char. Remove the vegetables from the heat and put into a large bowl. This will make assembling the layers a lot easier.
PreHeat the Oven to 375 degrees.
Cook the lasagna noodles for 6-7 minutes, or until just below being al dente. When the noodles are cooked, use tongs and pull them out of the water. Place them into a bowl of cold water. This stops the noodles from continuing to cook and will make it easier to pick up to make the lasagna noodles in a few minutes.
Start assembling the lasagna in a baking dish ( mine was a 9 X 13) but first grease the pan. My pan was deep enough for three layers, but adjust accordingly based on the depth of your dish.
First Layer:
Lasagana noodles
Sauce ( 2-3 ladles)
Cottage cheese ( 1 16 oz container of cottage cheese)
2 cups of the vegetables ( all mixed together)
2nd layer: Repeat Layer 1
3rd Layer:
Noodles
Sauce
Fresh Mozzarella sliced and placed on top with fresh basil leaves. Place casserole dish on a large jelly roll pan. This will prevent the lasagna from bubbling up and falling in the bottom of your oven, and makes for much easier clean up.
Place the dish in the oven and bake for 45-60 minutes. The dish is done when you can place a knife through the lasagna fairly easily. Let cool for 15 minutes and serve!
You could serve it right away, but the slices won’t be very pretty. If you let it sit for just a few minutes, the layers have a chance to set and it will be easier to cut and serve.
I would love to hear from you when you make this. If you make vegetable lasagna, how do you make it ?!
Until the next family dinner,
Lisa Annie
XOXO
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