Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Mega-Veggie Lasagna

For all you meat lovers, don't be turned away by the all the veggies in this lasagna. It is fantastic, very filling and every bit as good as a meat lasagna!

1 9oz pkg lasagna noodles, cooked according to package {I used multi grain noodles}
3 T olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 pound eggplant, skin on and cubed
1 large tomato chopped
1 1/2 cups firmly packed artichoke hearts, drained {I chopped my up}
1 T garlic powder {I used fresh, about 2 cloves}
4 cups marinara sauce {I used a jar of spaghetti sauce and left out most of the seasonings}
4 cups low-fat ricotta cheese {I mixed mine with 2 eggs}
4 cups shredded mozzarella

Preheat the oven to 375F. Spray a nonstick 9x13 pan with nonstick cooking spray. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat and brown the onions for about 1 minute. Add the bell pepper, eggplant, tomato, artichoke hearts and cook for a couple minutes. Add the tomato sauce {or spaghetti sauce} and seasonings. Cook for about 5 minutes. Put a small amount of sauce in prepared pan, enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Place about half the lasagna noodles over the bottom of the pan, overlapping the sheets as needed to fill all gaps. Spoon half the sauce/veggie mixture over the noodles and top with half the ricotta cheese. Sprinkle with a bit of mozzarella. Place the remaining lasagna noodles over the cheese and spoon and smooth on the remaining sauce. Top with remaining ricotta and cover with shredded mozzarella. Cover the baking pan tightly with foil. Bake for about 45 minutes {I find about 30 does the trick}, or until top layer of cheese melts and is bubbly. Remove from the oven and serve.

**Before baking, you can cover tightly and freeze. Just put it into the refrigerator the morning you want to eat it and heat as above.

**For you smaller families out there, you can make this in two 9" square pans {I like to use the disposable foil ones from the grocery store}, eat one now and freeze the second for use in about 1 month. If it is covered tightly {I use saran wrap and then foil} it should keep for about 6 weeks. Bonus: work once, eat two meals!

1 comment:

mandy said...

I made this yesterday and it was really tasty! I love knowing that we ate so many vegetables! I also divided the recipe in two and froze one of them to eat in a few weeks...