I made myself a Vegetable Lasagna for a Mom's Day treat and because I'm so nice I offered to share it with my family. Even my vege-phobic child, the one who dissects his food to remove any sizeable green, orange or red bits, cleaned his plate. You & your family might like it too. I'm a big fan of meals where all the food groups are included in one great dish.
First assemble the ingredients for the layers:
1 pound ground beef, brown with a chopped onion and some minced garlic
Mix with 2 jars spaghetti sauce (I used Classico Tomato & Basil)
and most of a bag of frozen chopped green peppers
and a finely grated carrot or two. (Lately I've been adding grated carrot to any dishes with tomato sauce to amp up the veg content without anyone noticing).
THIS MEAT/SAUCE/VEG MIX WILL BE DIVIDED INTO FIVE PORTIONS
Beat 2-3 eggs in a bowl & add a small (15-16 oz) container of Ricotta Cheese
Add some Italian herbs, and another finely grated carrot & maybe some more of the chopped green peppers for color.
THIS RICOTTA CHEESE MIX WILL BE DIVIDED INTO THREE PORTIONS
Slice 3 zucchinis in thin diagonal slices, divide into three portions.
Have 4 cups of grated mozzerella cheese handy, and 1/4 - 1/2 cup grated Parmesean cheese
Cook a box of lasagna noodles & drain, or use the no-boil noodles. There will be FOUR layers of noodles.
Spray a 9X13" pan with non-stick spray. It should be a nice deep pan, this stacks up high.
ASSEMBLE THE LAYERS LIKE THIS, FROM THE BOTTOM UP:
1/5 of the meat/sauce
1/4 of the noodles
1/3 of the ricotta cheese
1/3 of the zucchini slices
1/5 of the meat/sauce
1 cup mozzerella
1/4 of the noodles
1/3 of the ricotta cheese
1/3 of the zucchini slices
1/5 of the meat/sauce
1 cup mozzerella
1/4 of the noodles
the rest of the ricotta cheese
the rest of the zucchini slices
1/5 of the meat/sauce
1 cup mozzerella
the last of the noodles
the last of the meat/sauce
the last of the mozzerella
1/4-1/2 cup parmesean cheese
sprinkle some Italian herbs across the top for color.
Cover pan with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 - 60 minutes, until the noodles & zucchini are tender.* Then remove the foil & bake for another 15 minutes until it gets bubbly & looks irresistible. Let rest for about 10 minutes before cutting & serving. Makes 9 to12 portions depending on who does the cutting & serving.
*A WORD OF CAUTION IF YOU USE THE NO-BOIL NOODLES: the box I used said to be sure to cover the dry noodles to their edges with the filling in order for them to cook in the pan. And they said it should take 30-60 minutes to be done. But it took well over an hour, almost two, for those noodles to get soft. I kept testing them with a toothpick every 20 minutes or so. Lucky for me it was my day "off" and I didn't need this dish to be ready at any certain time.
Next time I might try swapping some chopped broccoli or spinach for some of the layers of zucchini. And I'm going to try substituting shredded cooked dark-meat chicken for the ground beef.
Enjoy!
First assemble the ingredients for the layers:
1 pound ground beef, brown with a chopped onion and some minced garlic
Mix with 2 jars spaghetti sauce (I used Classico Tomato & Basil)
and most of a bag of frozen chopped green peppers
and a finely grated carrot or two. (Lately I've been adding grated carrot to any dishes with tomato sauce to amp up the veg content without anyone noticing).
THIS MEAT/SAUCE/VEG MIX WILL BE DIVIDED INTO FIVE PORTIONS
Beat 2-3 eggs in a bowl & add a small (15-16 oz) container of Ricotta Cheese
Add some Italian herbs, and another finely grated carrot & maybe some more of the chopped green peppers for color.
THIS RICOTTA CHEESE MIX WILL BE DIVIDED INTO THREE PORTIONS
Slice 3 zucchinis in thin diagonal slices, divide into three portions.
Have 4 cups of grated mozzerella cheese handy, and 1/4 - 1/2 cup grated Parmesean cheese
Cook a box of lasagna noodles & drain, or use the no-boil noodles. There will be FOUR layers of noodles.
Spray a 9X13" pan with non-stick spray. It should be a nice deep pan, this stacks up high.
ASSEMBLE THE LAYERS LIKE THIS, FROM THE BOTTOM UP:
1/5 of the meat/sauce
1/4 of the noodles
1/3 of the ricotta cheese
1/3 of the zucchini slices
1/5 of the meat/sauce
1 cup mozzerella
1/4 of the noodles
1/3 of the ricotta cheese
1/3 of the zucchini slices
1/5 of the meat/sauce
1 cup mozzerella
1/4 of the noodles
the rest of the ricotta cheese
the rest of the zucchini slices
1/5 of the meat/sauce
1 cup mozzerella
the last of the noodles
the last of the meat/sauce
the last of the mozzerella
1/4-1/2 cup parmesean cheese
sprinkle some Italian herbs across the top for color.
Cover pan with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 - 60 minutes, until the noodles & zucchini are tender.* Then remove the foil & bake for another 15 minutes until it gets bubbly & looks irresistible. Let rest for about 10 minutes before cutting & serving. Makes 9 to12 portions depending on who does the cutting & serving.
*A WORD OF CAUTION IF YOU USE THE NO-BOIL NOODLES: the box I used said to be sure to cover the dry noodles to their edges with the filling in order for them to cook in the pan. And they said it should take 30-60 minutes to be done. But it took well over an hour, almost two, for those noodles to get soft. I kept testing them with a toothpick every 20 minutes or so. Lucky for me it was my day "off" and I didn't need this dish to be ready at any certain time.
Next time I might try swapping some chopped broccoli or spinach for some of the layers of zucchini. And I'm going to try substituting shredded cooked dark-meat chicken for the ground beef.
Enjoy!
Last edited by a moderator:
