Power Veggie Lasagna!

Two years?! Ive been away for two years??

Wow. Its been the longest and yet the shortest two years of my life. I would apologize but its been a 2 years well spent. I went back to work full time and oh yes had another baby! So you might venture to conclude Ive been preoccupied :)

My days and nights often melt into one another and most days I'm not really sure what the date, day or time it is. Sleep deprivation has that affect. (Which is why its such a great interrogation tactic! LOL)

Ive been slowly getting back to finding my rhythm in this life and it does help that the baby is now one and that his siblings are becoming more independent each day. That is not to say that they still don't need their mommy to do lots of things. Such as make them a seemingly decadent but secretly nutritious meal every now and again.

One of my favorite meals to make now-a-days is my power veggie lasagna. Yes, there is cheese - lots of it. You certainly don't have to use as much as I have. But! There are also a TON of hearty, tasty, nutritious - dare I say.... DELICIOUS! vegetables in this dish. I also include chicken meatballs on occasion and sometimes substitute layers of cooked ziti instead of lasagna noodles to keep things interesting for my sweet little taste-testers. :)


Ingredients:

3 cups - Vegetables (I use eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms (yes, I know! but as long as they melt into the rest of the dish and I don't have to taste them, I will be a grown up and use mushrooms), fresh spinach and onions. Add whatever your favorites are!

32 to 48 oz worth of Tomato Sauce - Rao's roasted garlic tomato sauce has to be the best sauce out there. Its rich and so yummy! Feel free to use your favorite store bought or homemade.

15oz Ricotta cheese

2 cups Shredded fresh mozzarella and shaved fresh parmesan (or italian blend shredded cheese)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 whole egg

1 heavy pinch of nutmeg

salt and freshly grounded pepper

italian seasoning


Steps:

A. Pasta
1. Boil pasta with a touch of olive oil until al dente
2. Drain, rinse with cold water and set aside

B. Sauce
1. sauté diced onions and garlic in olive oil, season with a pinch of salt and pepper
2. add diced vegetabled and sauté until soft but not mushy
3. add tomato sauce to the vegetables and mix well, simmer on low for 15 minutes allowing all the flavors to marry

C. Cheese
1. mix together, ricotta, shredded cheese, egg, salt, pepper and nutmeg

D. Assembly
1.spoon sauce and spread across the bottom of your lasagna pan/baking dish
2.alternately layer pasta, cheese, sauce until the top
3.add a generous layer of shredded cheese and sprinkle with italian seasoning


Bake (covered with foil) at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Then, uncover and bake another 15 minutes or until the top layer of cheese has bubbled and browned.

Two years to make this and it was so worth it!