In episode 078 we are making Vegetable Lasagna for dinner. This is a great way to fill your dinner menu with lots of veggies! This recipe will serve anywhere from 4 super hungry people to 9 people with the addition of side dishes. You can also watch Susie make this recipe on a 30 minute episode of Pinterest TV!
Serve this recipe up with a veggie side dish like roasted fennel, a side salad and some garlic bread.
Transcripts
Click for the full transcript.
Intro: Welcome everybody to another episode of Let’s Make Dinner, your audio library of amazing dinner recipes you can always get on the table. I’m your host, Susie Weinrich.
Susie Weinrich: Okay, you guys, I had the best time the other night. I made this recipe. We’re making Veggie Lasagna tonight. I made it live on PinterestTV the other night, and I had the best time. The recipe turned out perfect and it was absolutely delicious. I actually made two because my PinterestTV episodes are only 30 minutes long. So I don’t have time to actually bake the recipe. So I have one that’s cooked and yummy and delicious, and we’ve been eating it for lunch all week. I have one that I’m going to bake today that I’m going to cut up into individual pieces and pop them in the freezer so that over the next three months I can pull out just an individual piece of lasagna and have it for lunch whenever I want to. Perfect. You’re going to love this recipe.
So like I said before, we’re making a vegetarian lasagna today. It’s just going to be like a normal lasagna. It’s got the cheese, the noodles, the sauce, all the spices. But instead of a meat layer, it’s going to have a veggie layer that’s filled with onions, carrots, zucchini, and roasted red peppers. It’s the perfect blend to go into your veggie lasagna.
So this recipe is a little bit different from a traditional lasagna recipe. It’s actually made in either an eight by eight or a nine by nine pan. Either one will work. It’s going to give you a couple different options for serving. If you’ve got four super hungry people in your house, you can absolutely just cut this two by two, have four huge slices, and be good to go. You can also cut it so that it is cut three by two, giving you six slices, which that’s normally what I do. I just slice the pan in half and then go three across the other way. Your other option is to cut it three by three, so you have nine smaller slices. That’s great for if you’re having the veggie lasagna, and then you’re going to have maybe a roasted fennel or something on the side and a salad and garlic bread because they will be a little bit smaller slices. You can see with this recipe, there are a ton of different options for how you want to cut it and serve it.
Now, like any lasagna, it’s going to take a little bit more time to put this recipe together. Lasagna is a labor of love. So you want to make sure that you plan out enough time, maybe 20 minutes for the prep in getting all the veggies sauteed and getting the lasagna all layered together. Then you’re going to need about 50 minutes for cooking time and then another 15 to 20 minutes for the lasagna to just sit and settle. Make sure you plan enough time. This maybe is not the recipe, this definitely is not the recipe for a busy Wednesday night. This is a great recipe for a Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or maybe a weekday where you really don’t have much else going on.
Tips and Tricks: All right, so like always, let’s go over a couple tips for this vegetarian lasagna recipe. First of all, we’re talking about lasagna noodles. Since the lasagna is made in a smaller eight by eight pan, we love to buy the Barilla or Barilla, I don’t know how you say it, but whatever. You know what I’m talking about. It’s in the blue box. Their oven ready lasagna noodles are a little bit shorter, and they’re just in these thin sheets. They’re perfect for that eight by eight or nine by nine pan. So that’s what we recommend. Then for your marinara sauce, since that is such an important component of this recipe, you want to make sure that you buy a really good marinara sauce.
So of course, I say it all the time. We love RAOs. It is way more expensive at the grocery store, but we have found in just taste testing through the years that the RAOs are delicious and it’s absolutely worth the extra dough. The best place to buy your RAO sauce actually is at Costco. It comes in a two pack and it’s way cheaper than the normal grocery store.
All right. Another ingredient that you may turn your nose up to is cottage cheese. I grew up eating cottage cheese in my lasagna, and actually, I think it’s America’s Test Kitchen, recommends cottage cheese for your lasagna. It bakes up really creamy and it lends just a really nice flavor to the lasagna. Ricotta, to be totally honest, ricotta that you buy at the store, does not have a ton of flavor. I think that even if you’re on the fence about using cottage cheese, I think that you should definitely, definitely give it a try.
Three last little tips, and this is good for any lasagna that you make. Number one, when you cover your lasagna with foil to put it in the oven, spray the underside of your foil with a little non-stick spray and then put it over the lasagna. What that does is prevents the cheese from baking to that foil, and then when you take the foil off, all the cheese goes with it. That will not happen if you spray it with that non-stick spray.
The other tip, especially for this lasagna, is to make the whole lasagna in that eight by eight or nine by nine pan, but then when you go to put it in the oven, place that pan on top of a rimmed baking sheet. I can almost guarantee you that this lasagna will bake over the edges. It’s just a very hearty lasagna.
The very last tip before we get to the full recipe. With any lasagna, when it comes out of the oven, it is crucial that you let it sit and settle for 15 to 20 minutes. It needs that time to congeal. My husband loves that word. So it needs to set together and the layers need to cool and set in place. Then when you go to cut it, the layers will stay together. If you cut it too soon, you risk the layers falling apart. Which would still be delicious, but that’s not what you want when you actually serve a slice of lasagna.
All right, so those are all the tips and tricks. I hope you have your ingredients ready, and we’re going to make a delicious veggie lasagna.
Vegetable Lasagna Recipe: So we’re going to start in a skillet, and what you want to do is put your skillet over medium heat, add about a tablespoon of olive oil, and then you’re going to add in one cup of chopped onion. I like to usually use either a white or a yellow onion here. Then also, one cup of carrots. For the carrots I like to cut them in kind of thin coins so that they soften during the saute and the cook time.
So get those two in the pan and just start sauteing and softening those for about five to 10 minutes. Now while that’s sauteing, you can go ahead and chop up three garlic cloves. Then one medium size zucchini. Chop both ends off and then just slice that up into, I don’t know, about a quarter inch or an eighth inch size slice.
You’ll also want to measure out a half teaspoon each of dried basil, dried oregano, and kosher salt. Then a quarter teaspoon each of onion powder and garlic powder. I usually go with a really generous quarter teaspoon of both of those things because they’re delicious.
So once those carrots and onions have sauteed together for a while, go ahead and add in the zucchini, the garlic, and then all of those spices and seasonings and salt that you just measured out. Give that a stir around the pan and just let that saute for about three to five minutes to start to soften that zucchini. Now while that’s sauteing, you’ll take a 12 ounce jar of roasted red peppers and drain it in the sink. I usually just use a mesh colander or something and drain all that juice off so that you just have the red peppers.
Now usually jarred red peppers come, they can come in really long strips. It’s almost like the whole red pepper is still together. So after you drain it, you definitely want to give that red pepper a rough chop so that it’s in bite size pieces. Then you can remove all that veggie filling off of the stove and off of the heat. Just stir in that chopped red pepper. That is your filling for the lasagna. That’s all the veggie filling. It will smell really, really delicious at this point.
Now, another layer that we need to put together is the cottage cheese layer. You can empty out a 15 ounce container of cottage cheese into a bowl, and I usually like to use the 2% or 4% milk fat cottage cheese, because it’s a little bit creamier and heartier. Then crack one egg into that cottage cheese and give it a light mix. Then you can set that aside.
The last step is your mozzarella cheese. Highly, highly, highly recommend that you shred your own cheese, and if you can find it at your grocery store, a round of whole milk mozzarella, I highly recommend buying that and shredding that up. It will melt really creamy and really flavorful. So you need two cups of shredded mozzarella mixed with a half cup of fresh grated Parmesan cheese. Mix those two together and then set that aside.
Now it’s time to layer up your lasagna. You’ll want to go ahead and preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Grab that eight by eight or nine by nine pan, and we’re going to start to layer. So make sure that you have 24 ounces of marinara sauce, your veggies, the cottage cheese, and the cheese, and then the no-boil lasagna noodles. We’ll get to layering everything up.
So start by grabbing a third cup of that marinara sauce, and you’re going to just layer that down into the bottom of your pan and smooth it out so it covers the entire bottom. Then you’re going to lay two lasagna noodles side by side. On top of that, you’re going to add a third of that cottage cheese mixture. Again, just spread it edge to edge. Top that cottage cheese with a third cup of the marinara sauce. Again, spread it out. Then you’re going to top that with a third of that veggie mixture.
So usually what I like to do is spoon out some of the red peppers, onions, and carrots, and just scatter it all over the top of the lasagna layer. Then I like to grab out some of the zucchini and place them more strategically so that you don’t end up with just one pile of zucchini in the center of the lasagna. So get all those veggies spread out and then on top of that you’re going to put a generous quarter cup of the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese mixture. Just sprinkle that all over it. Now we’re going to repeat the layers two more times. Noodles, cottage cheese, marinara, veggies, cheese mixture. Then you’re going to do it again. Noodles, cottage cheese, marinara, veggies, cheese.
Now we have the last layer. This last layer is just going to be two noodles, and when you put these noodles on, give them a little press because I bet that your dish is super full. Give them a little press just to kind of set the lasagna together and then take the rest of that marinara sauce and spread it all over the top of the lasagna from edge to edge. Then you’re going to finish with the remaining cheese, all of that cheese that you have. Spread that across the top.
Now you’ll notice that your pan is very, very full. So what you want to do is take a big piece of foil, spray it with a little bit of non-stick spray on one side, and then place that directly over the lasagna. Make sure you crimp that foil really well, all around the edges of the pan. Then take that pan and place it on top of a large rimmed baking sheet. Like I said, this is a full hearty lasagna and it will probably boil over in the oven. So you’re going to pop that in your preheated 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes.
At the end of the 30 minutes, you’re going to pull it out, take that foil off, and put it back in the oven for another 15 to 20 minutes. I usually err on the side of 20 minutes because I like those little golden bits on the top of my lasagna. Then at the end of that 20 minutes, you’ll pull the lasagna out. This is key to a really good lasagna. You have to let it sit for like 15 to 20 minutes, up to 30 minutes. It will still be hot. It will still retain all of its heat. But in that time it will also come together, set up, settle, and the layers will stick together, which is exactly what you want. Now, like I said in the beginning of the episode, at the point where it’s time to cut, you can cut it in two by two for four slices, in a two by three for six slices. Or three by three for nine smaller slices.
So let’s talk about side dishes for your veggie lasagna. If you want to make it a really hearty meal, something like a roasted broccoli or a roasted fennel would be a great veggie side dish. Then of course, garlic bread, garlic breadsticks would be great. Either a Caesar salad or a green salad with a basil vinaigrette would be delicious. I have a wonderful recipe for a homemade basil vinaigrette that I will link in the show notes for you.
Outro: So that does it for today’s episode of Let’s Make Dinner. I hope you enjoyed cooking along with me and making this vegetable lasagna for dinner. If you made this recipe and you’ve loved it, I would love to have you rate and comment on the recipe on momsdinner.net. Of course there will be a link to the recipe right in the show notes for you.
So until next time, I hope this episode of Let’s Make Dinner makes your dinner time a little easier.
Double Dip: Now it’s time for your Double Dip. If you love cooking along with the Let’s Make Dinner podcast, then I want to let you know what recipe we’re making next Thursday. So when you are out of dinner ideas by Thursday, you can come to this podcast and be like, oh yeah, that’s what we’re having for dinner. So next week we are making a Buffalo Chicken Chili, and I’ve got two different ways to make it. We’re either going to do Instant Pot or stove top instructions. So either way, I hope you join me and make that for dinner.
Now here are the ingredients that you need to make this Buffalo Chicken Chili. You’re going to want to make sure you have one onion, garlic, one cup of chopped celery. Some bell peppers, any color will work. Two large chicken breasts. One one ounce packet of that, you know that ranch dressing mix? The powder dressing mix? You’ll want one of those. Four cups of chicken broth. Three quarters cup of buffalo sauce, Frank’s Red Hot is always a good choice. a 14 and a half ounce can of diced tomatoes and a 15 and a half ounce can of great northern beans.
Then you’re going to need frozen corn, fresh cilantro. An eight ounce block of cream cheese and one tablespoon of honey. Make sure you have all of those ingredients, and of course, if you want to print the recipe out or text yourself the ingredients, I will have a link in the show notes to the recipe where you can print it out or text yourself all of the ingredients and head over to the grocery store.
All right, I hope you guys have a great week. I’ll see you next Thursday.
Tips Shared
Use a whole milk mozzarella that is fresh grated that will melt really creamy and delicious.
Spray your foil with non-stick spray to avoid the cheese baking to the foil in the oven.
Place the lasagna pan on a rimmed baking sheet before putting in the oven. It will catch any spills in the oven.
After baking let the lasagna sit for 15-30 minutes so it can set up and settle before cutting into squares.
Recipes Mentioned
Equipment Recommended
Next Weeks Episode
Find a new audio recipe every Thursday. Follow along to make dinner with me every week.
Next week are making Buffalo Chicken Chili for dinner! Grab the ingredients and join me.
Follow Along
Subscribe To Stay Connected!
Sign up for the Mom’s Dinner Newsletter, delivered every Sunday morning, straight to your email inbox. It includes all the new recipes, videos, dinner ideas for the week and fun kitchen tips and tricks.
Comments
No Comments