It seems like most romance readers enjoy a new recipe now and again. With summer’s bounty starting to burst from my garden I’m going to share my vegetarian lasagna recipe.
Most of my children’s favorite recipes were things that started with someone else’s idea and morphed over the years. This lasagna, I’m sure, originated on the back of a Ronzoni box. But over the years I’ve added and adapted, and I expect you’ll do the same. It’s a very loosely defined recipe, so get creative!
Recipe Ingredients
- Barilla No-Boil lasagna noodles
- Regular-sized cottage cheese (instead of ricotta, which I find too dry)
- Whole mozzarella — about a pound
- Tomato sauce (I use homemade, but if you’re getting canned, I suggest the John Muir brand)
- In-season vegetables like…
- Zucchini (find a neighbor with a garden. She or he will be happy to provide this at season’s height!)
- Carrots (I use Cook’s Illustrated Slow-Cooked Whole Carrots Recipe first. It’s worth the time!)
- Mushrooms (Always saute first to bring out the flavor.)
- Spinach or Chard
- Broccoli
- Slowly sauteed onions
- Red or green peppers
- Pre-cooked asparagus
- Pre-cooked parsnips
- …
As you can see, there’s a lot of prep work before assembly, but it makes it soooo worth it.
Assemble the lasagna. I use a 9 by 12 glass pan. From bottom up, this is my order, but again, create your own! It’s more fun that way.
- Tomato sauce
- Lasagna noodles
- Vegetables
- Cottage cheese
- Mozarella
- Tomato sauce
- Lasagna noodles
- Vegetables
- Cottage cheese
- Mozarella
- Lasagna noodles
- Sauce
- Few dots of mozarella
I spray olive oil on foil and cover the lasagna. I cook it in a 350 oven until it starts getting bubbly and a thermometer shows me it’s warm in the center. This usually takes about 45 minutes, but will vary depending on how much “stuff” is in the middle.
I give it about 10 minutes without the foil, let it cool for about 15 minutes, and then serve!
There you have my vegetarian lasagna recipe! (It freezes really well.)
Coming soon … California Sunshine, a short prequel to California Wishes that I’ll be offering for free!
Casey Dawes is an author of popular contemporary romances.
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