Vegetarian Lasagne
I’ve been sitting on this recipe for a while. When I was in grade 11 and 12, I worked worked for a catering company in my hometown over the summers. One of my responsibilities was to make lasagnes for the storefront, which sold prepared foods and lunch items like soups and sandwiches. There was no specific recipe that we followed to make the lasagnes, there were just rough guidelines. After two summers of making lasagnes, I got pretty good at it. I have always wanted to share my lasagne recipe, but I had never actually measured anything out or written out a recipe, I’ve always made lasagne by feel.
This semester, my roommate Ali and I have split groceries for various different meals and have thoroughly enjoyed cooking together. I proposed that for our next shared meal we make lasagne, which also served as the perfect time for me to actually write this recipe down so I could share it with all of you. The last day of classes for the semester was yesterday and I opted to take today as a “vacation” before beginning my preparation for exams. Ali and I took a nice walk in the morning and made a pit stop on our way home at the Italian grocery store to grab the lasagne necessities (aka nice cheeses). I must say that our apartment smelled delicious while this was cooking, so aside from the delicious taste of this lasagne, there is also the delicious smell to look forward to.
There are a couple of substitutes here that I would like to point out, the first being the tomato sauce. Below I have included a recipe for a simple from-scratch sauce, but if you’re in a pinch you can certainly use a canned sauce. The second substitute is the veggies. I used eggplant, zucchini, and carrot here because those are my personal favourites, but these can easily be substituted for by other veggies, such as red peppers or mushrooms. This isn’t a substitute, but another thing to note about this recipe is that I use oven-ready lasagne noodles. All this means is that the noodles do not have to be cooked prior to being put in the oven. I like oven-ready lasagne noodles because I find them much easier to work with, but if you prefer noodles that you have to pre-cook feel free to use them!
Happy cooking!
xx
Ashley
Ingredients
Tomato Sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 2 28oz cans diced tomatoes
- sea salt + fresh pepper, to taste
Vegetarian Lasagne
- 2 medium eggplants, thinly sliced
- 3 medium zucchinis, thinly sliced
- 1 large carrot, grated
- 2 boxes oven-ready lasagna noodles*
- tomato sauce (see above recipe)
- 800 grams mozzarella cheese, grated
- 475 grams ricotta cheese
Instructions
Tomato Sauce
- Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the olive oil, followed by the diced onion.
- Sauté until the onion is translucent, about 3 minutes, then add the minced garlic. Sauté for a further 3 minutes, season with sea salt and pepper.
- Add the diced tomatoes to a blender along with the sautéd onion and garlic. Blend on high until smooth, then return to the large sauce pan to bring to a simmer. Lower the heat and allow to simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally, or until the sauce has thickened.
Vegetarian Lasagne
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. While the oven is preheating, thinly slice the eggplants and zucchinis lengthwise, grate the mozzarella and the carrot using the larger side of a box grater.
- Spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a 9X13 inch baking pan. Add a layer of noodles, leaving a bit of space between the noodles as they will expand as they cook. Add a layer of sliced zucchini followed by a layer of sliced eggplant. Sprinkle on a bit of the grated carrot followed by a generous layer of grated mozzarella and dollops of ricotta cheese. I like to add about a tablespoon of ricotta to each "slice" worth of lasagne. Finish off with a layer of sauce and then repeat the layering process beginning with the noodles.
- Once you finish your final layer, add one more layer of noodles followed by sauce, mozzarella, and ricotta. Depending on the depth of your pan, you should get three to four layers of noodles. Cover the pan with a sheet of tinfoil, place it on a baking sheet (to catch any drippings or overflow) and pop it in the preheated oven.
- Bake for 45 minutes, remove the tinfoil and bake for a further 15 minutes or until the cheese on top is golden brown and the noodles are cooked through. I like the check the noodles by inserting a knife into the center of the lasagne. Allow the lasagne to rest outside the oven for 10 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!
Notes
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