June 26, 2019

A Lighter Vegetarian Lasagna

Name: A Lighter Vegetarian Lasagna
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1 package lasagna noodles or; 1 lb fresh pasta dough to make your own; olive oil; salt for boiling the noodles; a couple of extra ounces of parmesan cheese and mozzarella (each) for the top.; 3 ears corn on the cob; 3 small summer squash; 1 red bell pepper; 8 squash blossoms; 4 tbsp reserved pasta water; 2 tbsp olive oil; ½ tsp kosher salt; 1 ½ tsp dried basil ((use fresh if you have it!)); 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1 lb ricotta; 2 oz parmesan cheese; 1 large egg; 2 tsp dried parsly ((use fresh if you have it!)); ½ tsp kosher salt; 2 tbsp reserved pasta water; pepper to taste ((I added a small pinch))

My two boys love lasagna. My husband likes all sorts of things in his – ground beef, kale or spinach, zucchini, bell peppers, etc etc smothered in tomato sauce and melted mozzarella with a thick layer of ricotta in the middle. My son likes it a bit more simple with ground turkey and kale along with the tomato sauce and the cheeses.

I make my husband’s version often. It usually gets cut into individual pieces and put in the freezer so he can easily grab lunch on his way to work. My son usually gets his version when it is cooler outside.

But this is my version of lasagna. I may eat a couple of bites of my husbands and a slice of my son’s favorite lasagnas, but it is usually too heavy for me to eat much of. I like fresh veggies and herbs, with a thin layer of ricotta, a light sauce, and a sprinkle of cheese on top.

And Jelani loved it. His eyes got big when he saw me take it out of the oven and he didn’t even make it to the table before he started eating it. He polished that piece off and then had another large piece. So much for leftovers for the week!

This particular recipe came from what I already had in the refrigerator from the farmers market combined with what I had on hand. Going through my vegetable bin, I picked out 3 fresh ears of corn on the cob, a red bell pepper, and three small summer squash. And I had picked up some beautiful squash blossoms at the farmers market but forgot to use them for a few days and found them starting to wilt. So into the lasagna they went as well! This is a great place to use up any veggies you may have.

Usually, I use regular store-bought lasagna noodles. But thanks to my good friend Corey, I have beautiful, homemade, fresh spinach pasta dough. Look at that beautiful bright green!

I put the dough through my pasta roller to make the thin lasagna noodles and then dropped them in well-salted gently boiling water for about a minute. Reserve that pasta water!

If you choose to use no-boil lasagna noodles (my usual go-to), awesome choice to make building this lasagna easier and quicker! Use vegetable broth, chicken broth, or water in place of the reserved pasta water.

While the noodles were cooling, cut the kernels off the ears of corn and chopped up the red bell pepper and summer squash to pieces similar in size to the corn kernels. Tear up the squash blossoms and toss them in a bowl with the other vegetables and add in some minced garlic, dried basil (although if you have fresh, it would be fantastic here!), and some of the reserved pasta water and olive oil.

In another bowl, mix up the ricotta, parmesan, egg, and seasonings and add some of the reserved pasta water to thin the mixture out a little. Then build your layers.

My layers went noodles (briefly dipped back in the pasta water before placing into a 9″ x 13″ baking dish), half of the veggie mixture, noodles, cheese mixture, the other half of the veggie mixture, the rest of the noodles, and some fresh mozzarella and sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

I prepped this in the morning to cook for dinner because I wasn’t sure when I would be finished running around with all my son’s activities. At this point, I covered the baking dish tightly with foil and placed in the refrigerator. I took it out and placed it on the counter for about 45 minutes before putting it in the oven. You can definitely take it straight from the fridge and put it in the oven and add a few extra minutes to the cooking time.

Bake for about 40 – 45 minutes (about half of the time covered and rest uncovered) until the cheese on top is melty and brown and the edges of the top noodles have turned crispy and golden brown. Let the finished lasagna rest for about 10 minutes before slicing and eating. Enjoy!

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