More than 2 years ago, I had posted a recipe of Vegetable Lasagna which was more of my own experiment. This time I am back with another recipe which was given to me by my friend Cindy.
About 1 year ago, Cindy had invited us for a lunch at her place. Though she usually prepares meat dishes, she made vegetarian food for us. She knew I am a lasagna lover, so she made this for me. I became an instant fan. On my request, she sent me the recipe. Somehow, I never got to try this until recently.
Llast month, one of my colleagues asked me if I can make vegetable lasagna. He wanted to bring lasagna for our entire group. But he didn’t know how to make vegetarian version. We have about 4-5 vegetarians in the group. Since I had not tried it for more than 2 years, I wasn’t very sure if I can pull it off.
So first I made a small batch with Cindy’s recipe. It came out fantastic. Next, I made a whole batch for our group. I asked for some tips to get a beautiful top. Thanks to my friends, colleague and internet resources, I could make a very nice lasagna. Even the meat eaters in the group enjoyed it. It got over in minutes, I wish I had made a bigger batch. Soon, within one week, I made it once more for us. This recipe is a keeper.
The original recipe called for unpeeled eggplant. But sometimes eggplants have a slight bitter taste near the peels. So one of my batches turned slightly bitter(the one when I took these pictures). So I am going to peel it hereafter. The canned tomatoes make a lot of difference due to their concentrated flavor.
Things to improve : Next time, I need to mix the ricotta cheese very well with other cheeses before spreading it. I was getting impatient, so didn’t take time to mix well. Also, I need to wait till the lasagna cools down before digging into it(you can tell that from the above picture. I could not wait until it reached room temperature) :).
Ingredients: 4 cups eggplant, peeled & diced 2 cups yellow squash, unpeeled & diced 2 cups zuchini, unpeeled & diced 1 cup chopped onion 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped 28 ounces crushed canned tomatoes 12 ounces tomato canned paste Salt 1 tsp sugar 3 tea spn chopped fresh basil or 1 tea spn dred basil 2 tea spn fresh oregano leaves or about 1/2 tea spn dried oegano 15 ounces ricotta cheese, part skim milk (I used low fat version) 2 cups mozzarella cheese, part skim milk, shredded 1 large egg, beaten (I did not use it) 9 lasagna noodles, cooked 2 tbl spn grated Parmesan cheese
Method: In large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add eggplant, zuchini, squash, onions and garlic. Cook, stirring, 5 minutes. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until eggplant is tender. Preheat oven to 350 F. In another bowl, stir together both tomato paste and crushed tomatoes, 1 teaspoon salt and the sugar, basil and oregano. Combine ricotta, mozzarella, egg(if using), 1 teaspoon salt and the parmesan in large bowl. Bring water to boil in large saucepan, Add salt and cook noodles.
Putting everything together: Spray the 9 x 13-inch baking sheet with a little cooking spray(optional). Spoon 1/3rd eggplant sauce in the baking dish. Layer with 3 lasagna noodles and 1/3rd tomato mixture, 1/3rd cheese mixture. Repeat layers until all layers are finished. Sprinkle with Parmesan and some mozzarella cheese. Cover the baking dish with a silver foil (poke 2-3 small holes to the silver foil) and for 30 to 40 minutes, until all cheese melts. Take out, discard the silver foil and bake again for about 1-2mins. Take out from oven and keep rest it for about 1hr before cutting into it. Refrigerate remaining lasagna. Next day, it becomes much more easier to cut.
Serves: 8 Preparation time : 90mins
Pictorial:
Wish you all and your family a very happy and prosperous new year. Hope this year brings peace and happiness to the world.
We will try our best to keep this place interesting in the new year. We request all your support and blessings. We also have many plans for this blog, lets see how many of them we can actually follow.
– Varada, Shilpa and Family
