Vegetable Lasagna

I’ve mentioned before that I’m not adventurous in the kitchen.  I’m pretty much a follow-the-recipe-to-the-letter kind of cook so I make a much better baker.  Thom, on the other hand can taste a dish and tell exactly what’s in it and he’s usually the one to recreate a dish we’ve had in a restaurant.  So, it was very much not-the-norm for me to take on a challenge to find a recipe-taste-alike.  But I took a swing and I have to say-I hit a home run.  Very much not-the-norm for me.

One of the things I gave up when I became a vegetarian is my mom’s lasagna {my very way back when}.  In the meatless years that followed I tried numerous red-sauced meatless lasagnas that were okay in taste but just not filling and certainly not as tasty as good ole moms!  All that changed when Thom introduced me to a frozen white-sauced vegetable lasagna.  Even though it tasted amazing, I always balked at the price and the portion size available in the particular brand that is available at the local grocier.  We’ve said for years that we should try to make our own.  A couple of week’s ago Thom came up with a garlic cheese sauce for a tortellini dish and I couldn’t help but think that it tasted very, very similar to that white-sauced veggie lasagna we both love.  Over the weekend I gave it a go. It was good.  Really, really good.  Here’s what I came up with:

|Notes|  It’s daunting putting together a dish with layers so I find it easier to do all the prep work in stages during the day so that I can quickly put together the layered dish right before the time we’d like to eat.

This makes a 9 X 13 sized pan-of-cheesy goodness

 

 

 

Vegetable Lasagna

|Ingredients|

Sauce:
4 tbsp unsalted butter
3-4 cloves garlic, minced {more or less depending on your preference}
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/8 tsp nutmeg
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup grated Parmesan/Romano cheese

Veggie/Cheese mixture:
1 medium bunch of broccoli
4 carrots, peeled and shredded
10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained

12 oz ricotta cheese
1 egg slightly beaten
1 cup + 2 tbsp grated Parmesan/Romano cheese
3/4 tsp salt
pepper to taste

16 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
14 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained according to package directions

Topping:
6 slices white bread, crumbled
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

|Method|

Shred carrots and set aside while you steam the broccoli until it is just tender.  Add broccoli to the shredded carrots {the steamy green vegetable with soften the carrots a bit while you prepare the rest}. Set aside.

Prepare frozen spinach according to package instructions and drain thoroughly.   When drained, add ricotta, beaten egg, the Parmesan/Romano cheese, and salt/pepper..  Mix until combined and set aside.

Prepare sauce.  Melt butter over medium heat.  Add garlic being sure not to burn.  Add vegetable broth, milk, and cream.  Stir over medium heat and add the basil, white pepper, and nutmeg.  Bring mixture to a boil.  Add cornstarch and continue boiling until mixture is thickened.  Remove from heat and add cheese blend.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9 X 13 pan with non-stick spray.

Ladle a little of the sauce in the bottom of the pan.  Enough to coat but not too thick.  Add 4 lasagna noodles side-by-side across the length of the pan.  Add 1 noodle at the end along the width so that the bottom of the pan is covered with noodles.

Cover the noodles with 1/3 of the ricotta/spinach mixture.  Spread with the back of a spoon or your fingers!

Top ricotta/spinach layer with the 1/2 of the broccoli/carrot mixture.  Salt and pepper this layer.

Ladle 1/3 of the sauce over the ricotta/spinach layer.

Repeat:  Noodle layer, 1/3 ricotta/spinach, last 1/2 broccoli/carrot.  Sprinkle with handful of shredded mozzarella, top with 1/3 sauce.

Lay a final layer of noodles.  Top with remaining ricotta/spinach mixture.  Add the rest of the shredded mozzarella cheese.  Add the last of the sauce to cover.

Cover lasagna with foil and bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the buttery breadcrumb topping. In the bowl of a food processor, whirl bread until pea-sized crumbs form {alternatively: shred bread by hand}  Add melted butter to bread crumbs. Stir with a fork to combine, or use your hands!

After 15 minutes, remove lasagna, uncover, add breadcrumb topping and return pan to the oven.  Bake for another 15 minutes until breadcrumb topping is golden and the sauce underneath is bubbling.

Remove and let rest a minute before cutting and serving.  Enjoy!