This is one of those lasagna recipes you can adapt, using whatever vegetables you have on hand. If you have kale on hand, or Swiss chard is in season, use those instead of baby spinach. Or if you have a few leftover mushrooms, add them to the spinach mixture. Just be sure to use the caramelized onions as a base. They offer a sweet, warm flavor to this vegetable lasagna recipe that's unparalleled.
You can use any pesto you like for this recipe. If you're short on time, by all means, use a jarred basil pesto. But if you feel like being creative, try a radish basil pesto or spinach pesto. They offer not only extra flavor, but extra nutrition, too.
Serve this vegetable lasagna with homemade Italian bread fresh from your bread machine, carrot raisin salad and lemon bars for dessert.
Vegetable Lasagna Recipe
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 medium onions, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 red pepper, chopped
- 2 cups firmly-packed baby spinach
- 1 tsp. kosher salt or sea salt
- 1/2 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 15 oz. part-skim ricotta cheese
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 3-1/2 cups marinara sauce (homemade or your favorite brand)
- 9 no-boil lasagna noodles (such as Barilla)
- 2 cups pesto (homemade radish basil pesto or your favorite jarred pesto)
- 8 oz. part-skim mozzarella cheese, grated
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook 1 to 2 minutes, stirring. Reduce heat to medium low and allow onions to sweat, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. When onions start to brown, add garlic and red pepper and cook five more minutes. Don't let onions get too brown. If they start to burn, reduce the heat and add another teaspoon of olive oil.
Add the spinach to the skillet and cook until just wilted, about 2 minutes. Season vegetable mixture with kosher salt and pepper.
In a medium bowl, beat eggs, ricotta cheese and Parmesan cheese together. Set aside.
Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with nonstick spray. Place 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce in the bottom of the dish. Top with 3 lasagna noodles. Spread half of the ricotta mixture on top of the noodles. Top with half of the spinach-onion mixture. Top with 1 cup of the marinara sauce.
Top with 3 more lasagna noodles. Spread the pesto over those noodles. Top with the remaining spinach mixture, then the last three noodles, the the remaining ricotta mixture and the rest of the marinara sauce. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese evenly on top.
Cover and bake 45 minutes in preheated oven. Remove foil and bake 15 more minutes or until the cheese is browned and the lasagna is bubbly.
Serves 10.
Per serving: 405 calories, 24 g fat (8 g saturated fat), 89 mg cholesterol, 32 g carbohydrate, 8 g fiber, 18g protein, 58% vitamin A, 53% vitamin C, 41% calcium, 12% iron
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