I've been meaning to cook vegetable lasagna for the longest
time but never really got around to doing it until today.
This dish is the reason why I have to up my workout this
week! I had hefty servings of this dish every meal! Hahaha!
Anyway, this recipe is healthier than the traditional beef
and. I promise you, the way I cook it tastes so good! The key is in the crunchy
texture of the veggies and the creamy (yet less) cheese!
Vegetable Lasagna
What you need:
EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
Spinach
Fresh basil
Salt
Pepper
Parmesan cheese (optional)
Lasagna noodles
I found Catelli lasagna noodles at our local Korean store
(Kang's Leviste St. Salcedo Vill., Makati ).
It's made from durum wheat, which is more nutritious than white pasta.
Plain tomato sauce
Tip: Since we'll be using a lot of sauce for this recipe, go
for plain tomato sauce. I find that the flavored ones have higher sodium
content. Plus, we're already topping this recipe with ricotta-flavored sauce.
Barilla ricotta tomato sauce
If you can't find this particular sauce, you can use the
regular tomato sauce and just mix in ricotta cheese.
Your choice of vegetables! You can also add eggplant (which
I hate),
onion, zucchini, squash, and more!
For this recipe, I used carrots, broccoli, bell peppers,
cabbage, celery...
...fresh white button mushrooms, and spinach (I used frozen
ones and microwaved them to thaw them out.)
Fresh basil
Cheese
For a healthier recipe, I recommend using mozarella cheese
(made from low-fat milk), medium cheddar, and light cheese
Easy peasy:
This recipe is really easy to make but it needs some prep
work. I asked the "Liza 2000" (our amazing house help) to cut the
veggies for me. Thank you, Liz!
Cook lasagna noodles. Follow the instructions on the
packaging.
Warning: Some lasagna noodles don't requiring boiling. Check
the instructions
on the box to be sure.
It depends on your lasagna tray, I used 9 strips of lasagna
noodles for this recipe. Remember that the pasta expands when you cook it.
Now the layering begins...
Tomato sauce...
Lasagna noodles... Tomato sauce (spread it all over the
pasta)
Broccoli
Tip: Use the sturdier veggies on the bottom to avoid
toppling your
lasgana when you cut it.
More layering... Tomato sauce, salt and pepper, then drizzle
EVOO on top...
Mozarella... Medium cheddar...
Tip: Of all the cheeses I used, the mild cheddar has the
most sodium content and fattening. I only use it with the broccoli layer as broccoli
and cheddar go together. The mozarella gives the dish a stringy cheese effect.
Warning: Put. The. Cheese. Down. Believe me, you don't need
too much cheese on the layers as the ricotta tomato sauce will add the cheese
flavor to this dish.
Top the greens with more pasta...
Next, layer the carrots, bell peppers, celery, mozarella,
light cheese, and top it with tomato sauce, salt and pepper...
Add the cabbage (I
added the leftover cheddar to this dish—it's very little).....
Add the last batch of lasagna noodles...
Layer in the mushrooms and spinach (I used 3/4 of the box),
mozarella, and light cheese...
Top the final layer with Barilla's ricotta cheese sauce.
Bake in medium heat (340 C) for 30-45 mins.
Tip: I bake the lasagna uncovered for 20 minutes so that the
veggies don't get watery (from steaming). Then I cover it with foil the last
10-15 minutes.
Et viola!
The vegetables I used have light flavors so the tomato sauce
and cheese camouflaged the taste of the greens! LOL!
Optional: Add parmesan cheese on top for maximum flavor and
presentation.
Vegetable and cheese crumble!
Drizzle EVOO because it's good for you
