Veggie Lasagna

For those of you who don’t know my background is Italian, so naturally I love pasta and tomato sauce. For the past few months I have been dairy free (because of a milk protein allergy my little guy had that could pass through me into his milk). Italian cuisine often contains a lot of cheese, so I’ve learnt to experiment and to be honest I am really enjoying the outcomes.

Today I am sharing a veggie (no cheese) lasagna. Of course you are welcome to add cheese to your layers, I have no doubt that it would be tasty! My recommendation for this dish would be a fresh ricotta.

Ingredients:

8-10 cups spinach 1 onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 5-6 basil leaves 3 cans of tomatoes (796ml) OR 8 cups fresh tomatoes, diced 3 tbsp. olive oil (2 for the sauce and 1 for the spinach, see below) 1 eggplant, sliced thinly 3 zucchini, sliced thinly Salt and black pepper to taste Lasagna noodles (you can use fresh or dried, I used the Catelli Smart noodles) Directions:

Make the sauce:

Mince the onion and garlic. On medium heat, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, minced garlic and onion. Sauté for 1-2 minutes or until the onions start to become translucent. Add diced tomatoes and some salt and pepper (about ½ a teaspoon of each). Simmer on low heat for 1 hour, when the hour is approaching add the basil leaves in for some flavour. Taste and adjust seasoning, set aside.

You can use half the sauce for the lasagna and half can be frozen for another day. Set oven to 400 F and slice eggplant and zucchini thinly. Sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Line a tray with parchment paper and evenly spread the thin slices of zucchini and eggplant. Bake for 20 minutes. In another small pan, sauté spinach with some olive oil and until wilted, set aside.

Now comes the fun, layering the lasagna. Use a 9 by 9 baking dish. Bottom of pan add some of your tomato sauce (about 1/2 cup), add a layer of pasta, then a layer with one vegetable (zucchini, if you want to add cheese, do that now too). Repeat the layering processes, starting with sauce, then pasta then another vegetable (eggplant) and continue on. You always need some sauce on top of the pasta. Cover the lasagna with some foil or parchment paper.

Bake at 400 F for 30 minutes covered, remove foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy.

If you have access to some local farms or a garden definitely give this recipe a try using some locally grown veggies.

Cheers to happy and healthy eating.

Until next time,

Eat Right Feel Right – Angela XO