Loaded veggie lasagna

I usually make this on special occasions or some random weekends. Of course you must have tried various versions of veggie lasagna. I usually tend to make the version that I learnt from Aruna, my sister. She would often make this when I would visit and also like the best big sister ever, would pack me some to take home during those residency years. Nothing better than coming home from those brutal call days/nights to those packed dinners! Of course those years for some reason I could burn these kind of meals very easily. I wonder what happened to that metabolism these days??? HAHA!

This usually has 3 layers. And the middle layer is sandwiched with white sauce or a combination of white sauce with marinara sauce. Since I like to have eggless options, I end up making my own white sauce because most of the store bought white sauces are with eggs or one can get vegan versions. Very rarely I have found vegetarian eggless versions.

You can always skip this step and make it all with red sauce.

You will need (except those cute hands that are going for the olives, haha!):

Oil:

olive/canola/vegetable oil

Veggies:

Layer 1:

1/4 onion chopped

1/4 red pepper chopped

1/4 green pepper chopped

1/4 orange pepper chopped

1 cup sliced mushrooms

Layer 2:

1 cup corn (I used frozen)

1 cup greens (I used spinach, green mustard, red mustard, kale from my Gardyn)

Layer 3:

1/4 onion chopped

1 zucchini diced

1 2.25oz can of sliced olives

Fresh herbs (optional):

basil (from my Gardyn)

thyme (from my Gardyn)

Seasonings (for both veggies and white sauce):

onion powder

garlic powder

red chilli flakes

oregano

rosemary

thyme

salt

Red sauce:

2-3 25oz bottles of marinara/pasta/tomato basil sauce (I used store bought, any flavor would do)

White sauce:

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp all purpose flour

2 cups milk (2% or whole)

seasonings as above

Cheese:

ricotta cheese

shredded cheddar cheese

shredded mozzarella cheese

fresh mozzarella cubed (optional)

You can use pepper jack as well!

Lasagna sheets:

1 9oz box of no boil/oven ready lasagna sheets

Method:

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Take the veggies for layer 1 and 3 and spread them on an oven safe pan. Sprinkle oil over the veggies. Add in all the seasonings and fresh herbs. Mix them well keeping the veggies for layer 1 and 3 separate. Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes.

In the meanwhile, heat butter in a skillet on a stove top. Once that is melted, add the flour. Mix that well. Then slowly add the milk and keep stirring. Mix in all the seasonings. The milk starts to boil and the sauce becomes thicker. Add the corn and greens to this sauce. White sauce with veggies is ready.

Once the veggies are baked take them out and start assembling your lasagna.

Take an oven safe dish.

First layer with some red sauce. Place the lasagna sheets neatly to cover the entire dish. You can break the sheets to fit the shape of your dish. Spread more red sauce on top of the sheets. Add the veggies for layer 1 and spread them out evenly. Scoop out ricotta cheese and add it throughout the layer. Add both the shredded cheese and spread them out as well.

Layer again with lasagna sheets. Pour the white sauce with veggies. If your white sauce is not enough you can mix red sauce as well to cover the pasta sheets. Add the ricotta and shredded cheese like earlier.

Lastly for the third layer place the lasagna sheets. Pour red sauce throughout. Add the veggies for layer 3. Spread out ricotta, shredded cheese like before. For the top layer you can choose to add some fresh mozzarella as well (either cut them in cubes or pinch them off).

Cover this dish with aluminum foil. Bake at 400°F for 45 minutes. After that is done, uncover and bake for another 15 minutes to brown the cheese a bit.

Keep it on the counter to cool down for about 15 minutes before cutting your lasagna. This will give you more firm pieces.

TIPS:

You could change your temperature and time settings based on your lasagna box instructions as well. I have used different brands like 365, Hyvee, Barilla and this temperature and time setting usually works pretty well for all. The advantage to 400°F is that I can use the same setting to roast my veggies too!

Since you are using no boil/oven ready lasagna, be a bit generous with your sauces. Since you need that to cook your lasagna sheets or else they would come out unevenly cooked or undercooked even!

Also you can double up the ingredients for white sauce and make double the amount of white sauce if you don't want to mix it with red sauce for the middle layer.

Serve it with a side of garlic bread or salad (I usually have a side of salad before indulging in this yummy cheesy meal! Haha!)

ENJOY!