Merciful God, You are great in compassion and Your tenderness for us is without measure. We ask You to give us today our daily bread, and also provide for the needs of all of Your hungry children around the world. Through Christ Your Son and Our Lord. Amen.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna


Back to working on my backlog of recipes, this one I prepared on Christmas Eve. My niece Rachel is a vegetarian and I am supposed to avoid tomato products because of the IC. I planned Baked Ziti and Italian sausages for the rest of the gang, so I was really happy when I found this recipe in a Family Circle magazine. It was really very good, and so different from the ziti that most of my company had a little of both (or a lot as the case may be). It's not exactly low in fat, but it's probably lower than beef and cheese lasagna. And with the vegetables, it probably has greater nutritional value.

I modified the recipe just a little bit and mine is below. It's a little complicated, but then, if you've made meat and sauce lasagna, it can be long and involved, too. Nothing is too tough, just a little involved. The only step that gave me trouble was the mushroom sauce. I had a hard time getting it seasoned the way I wanted. It is where the dish gets a lot of its flavor, so make sure it tastes good. Mine needed a lot of salt to get there. A dash of garlic powder, too.



Roasted Vegetable Lasagna
serves 8

2 medium-sized zucchini, trimmed and cut into 1/4-inch coins
2 medium-sized yellow squash, trimmed and cut into 1/4-inch coins
1 large sweet red pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 large red onion, trimmed and cut into 1-inch wedges
3 T. vegetable oil (olive or other)
1 t. salt
1 t. black pepper
8 oz. white mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
1 T. olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 T. butter
2 T. flour
2-3/4 c. milk
1/4 c. minced fresh parsley
2 T. minced fresh basil
12 dried lasagna noodles
6 oz. Fontina cheese, shredded
2/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese
8 oz. shredded mozzarella

Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Coat 2 large rimmed baking sheets with vegetable oil.

Place zucchini, squash, red pepper and onion in a bowl and toss with 2 T. vegetable oil. Spread in a single layer on the prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle vegetables with 1/2 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper. Roast at 425 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through, or until edges are browned. Remove from oven and transfer vegetables to a bowl.

Pulse mushrooms in a food processor until finely chopped. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms to skillet. Cook, stirring, for 6 minutes or until all liquid has evaporated. Reduce heat to medium; stir in garlic and remaining 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper; continue to cook 1 minute.

Add butter to skillet and cook until melted. Add flour and cook 1 minute, stirring. Add milk and nutmeg to skillet and increase heat to medium-high. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Remove skillet from heat and stir in the parsley and the basil. Taste, and season to taste.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook noodles according to package instructions, about 9 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water and set aside.

Coat a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Stir together Fontina and Parmesan. Spread 1/2 cup mushroom sauce into bottom of baking dish, then place 3 noodles in dish. Pour another
1/2 cup sauce over noodles, then sprinkle 1/3 of the vegetables and 1/3 of the cheese mixture over sauce. Repeat layering twice. Top with three noodles, pour the rest of the sauce over top and sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese.

Cover dish with nonstick aluminum foil and bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Raise heat to 500 degrees, Remove foil and cook for another 12 minutes or until browned. Let stand 15 minutes before serving. Makes 8 servings.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Barbara, this looks delicious. I, too, had to make a veggie lasagne for Christmas, as my sister & sister-in-law are both vegetarians, too. I used a recipe I found on Better Homes & Gardens website, & it was good, too, but I would like to try yours without the tomato...& the fontina. Yum!