I’m not really a fan of lasagne. Actually, I’m not much of an Italian food fan. Not that I don’t like it; whenever someone drags me to an Italian restaurant or when I cook up some spaghetti at home, I like it. It’s just one of those meh things, I guess.
Anyway, I made lasagne today. I had to, because I had to do something with that gorgeous eggplant I got last week, and veggie lasagne seemed just the thing. I made it in a much larger baking dish, so there’s not so much goo, and I find that I like it better that way. Joe has even had two plates of it today, and considering that his first response was, “lasagne! Why’d you make lasagne? I hate it,” I’m pretty pleased. Pleased enough to share the recipe.
- 2 jars spaghetti sauce (I used vegetarian sauce, but you can use meat sauce if you prefer)
- a box of lasagne noodles (I got the kind that you don’t have to boil before using)
- 2 eggs
- a nice-sized eggplant, cubed
- 3 or 4 zucchini, roughly chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- garlic, pressed (I used 4 cloves, and wish I’d used more)
- 15 oz container ricotta
- 4 cups shredded Mozzarella, divided
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan
- olive oil
Spray your baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Drizzle some olive oil in a skillet and heat it up, then add the onions and garlic. After they get nice and yummy smelling, add the zucchini and eggplant. Stir, adding a little extra olive oil if it needs it, and cook until everything is nicely browned. (You could add mushrooms if you have any, or spinach ditto.)
In a separate dish, beat the eggs until they’re nice and light. Stir in the ricotta, parmesan, and 2 cups of the mozzarella.
Spread 1 cup of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of your baking dish. Top with a layer of lasagne noodles, overlapping slightly. My dish was large enough that it took 6 boards (4 crosswise and 2 longwise). Then smear on about 1/3 of the ricotta mixture. Top with a layer of veggies, then a layer of mozzarella, and some spaghetti sauce. Top with another layer of noodles, about 1/3 of the ricotta mixure, and some spaghetti sauce. Then make your last layer of noodles, ricotta mixture, veggies, the rest of the sauce, and the rest of the shredded mozzarella.
Cover with foil if you have it (parchment paper works in a pinch, if you don’t have the foil), and bake for about an hour. Then remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes or so.
Really tasty stuff. I’m serious.
