Italian Garden Lasagne

In Italy, lasagne is usually eaten as the first course, but we all know how substantial it can be. My version is so full of veggies that it's virtually a "garden in a pan". Don't worry about the long list of ingredients. The only time-consuming part is chopping the vegetables. After that it's a breeze!

Ingredients

• 8-ounce package lasagne noodles, uncooked

• 30-ounce jar meatless spaghetti sauce

• 1½ cups water

   Vegetables:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped yellow or red bell pepper
• 1 cup coarsely shredded carrots
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup finely chopped zucchini
• 1 cup finely chopped broccoli flowerets
• 1 teaspoon each dried basil and dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained well

• 15-ounce container part-skim ricotta cheese

• 1¼ cups part-skim Mozzarella cheese (5 ounces)

• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Lightly oil a 9 x 13-inch baking pan or spray with a nonstick cooking spray.

3. In a large bowl, combine sauce and water. Set aside.

4. To prepare vegetables: heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper, carrots, and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, 3 minutes.

5. Add remaining vegetables, except spinach. Sprinkle with spices. Cook, stirring frequently, 5 minutes.

6. Remove from heat and stir in spinach.

7. Set aside 1 cup of the vegetables.

8. To prepare cheese filling: set aside 1/2 cup of the Mozzarella cheese. In a medium bowl, combine remaining Mozzarella cheese with ricotta and Parmesan. Mix well.

9. To assemble: spread 1 cup of the sauce in the bottom of prepared pan. Top with a third of the noodles, then 1/2 cup of the sauce. Next, spoon half of the cheese mixture over the noodles. Top with half of the vegetables, pressing them down into the cheese. Top with another 1/2 cup of the sauce.

10. Top with another third of the noodles. Press them down firmly onto the filling. Repeat layers, adding 1/2 cup sauce, remaining cheese, remaining vegetables, 1/2 cup sauce, and remaining noodles. Again, press noodles down firmly.

11. Spoon reserved vegetables over noodles. Top with remaining sauce, making sure noodles are entirely covered with sauce.

12. Cover and bake 40 minutes. Uncover and spoon sauce from sides of pan over noodles. Sprinkle with reserved Mozzarella cheese and continue to bake uncovered, 30 minutes more.

13. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

  Makes 8 servings.

This recipe was excerpted from The Vegetarian Gourmet's Easy International Recipes, © 2001 by Bobbie Hinman. Reprinted with permission of the publisher, Surrey Books, http://surreybooks.com

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Bobbie Hinman’s cookbooks have sold over 700,000 copies. She is the author of Lean and Luscious, Lean and Luscious and Meatless, More Lean and Luscious, and The Vegetarian Gourmet’s Easy Low Fat Meals. Hinman is a pioneer in the field of low fat cooking. Bobbie is constantly in demand as a speaker and cooking teacher, and has appeared on many TV and radio shows. She is a frequent contributor to The Vegetarian Journal.