Vegetarian Lasagna

Good evening, people.

Tonight, I made vegetarian lasagna for dinner. 

I used whole grain lasagna noodles to boost the nutrient intake of the dish.  I try not to use "white" noodles if I can help it.  The whole grain kind taste delicious and are, obviously, better for you.  You want to follow the package directions on the box for cooking the noodles, but you will want to undercook them by about 2-3 minutes because they will continue cooking in the oven. 

I used three different cheeses:  ricotta, cottage cheese, and shredded mozzarella.  I mixed the ricotta and cottage cheese in a bowl and seasoned it with fine sea salt & pepper, as well as some fresh chopped basil (I happened to have it on hand).  I left the mozzarella in the bags it came in until I was ready to use it.

For the sauce, I used canned plain tomato sauce, tomato paste, lots of garlic, fine sea salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, fresh basil, dried marjoram, dried oregano, dried thyme and dried mint.  I combined all of the ingredients for the sauce in a saucepan and heated on medium-low until heated through. 

To make it vegetarian, I sauteed (separately) zucchini and baby bella mushrooms in some garlic oil until tender.  For both veggies, I first heated some olive oil in a cast iron skillet on medium heat and added a couple smashed cloves of garlic to the pan and let the garlic infuse in the oil.  After I was satisfied the garlic had infused the oil enough, I removed all of the garlic and discarded it.  Then I added the vegetable to the pan and sauteed it until it was tender.  I used two zucchini sliced in half lengthwise and then chopped into 1/3" pieces.  For the mushrooms, I used a medium package of baby bella mushrooms that I wiped clean with a damp paper towel and then chopped them into 1/4" pieces.  I cooked the mushrooms first, then put them in a bowl.  Then I did the zucchini in the same pan. 

After it was all ready, I layered everything in a 9x13 pan.  I finished with a layer of noodles, ricotta/cottage mixture, the rest of the tomato sauce and then topped it all off with some mozzarella.

I baked the lasagna at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes.  I recommend letting the lasagna sit for about 15-20 minutes to allow it to cool and not fall apart as much when removing a piece to enjoy.  :)