No Cottage Cheese Vegetable Lasagna

This is an original recipe that I created back in high school. I love lasagna, but prefer it without cottage cheese, or ricotta. So I decided I would add a bunch of veggies and mozzarella cheese! I've tweeked it over the years and this is the end result. Of course you could add cottage cheese to the recipe if you'd like. I won't mind... :)

Vegetable Lasagna

• 9-12 whole grain lasagna pasta sheets
• 1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce, store-bought or homemade (I like Prego Traditional if not homemade)
• 1-2 cup package of part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  
• 2-3 zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
• 1 eggplant, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
• 1 onion cut into 1 inch chunks
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp Italian seasoning

Cook lasagna pasta as directed on the package. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat oil on medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic. Once onion begins to soften, add zucchini and eggplant. Cook for about 8 min, or until zucchini and eggplant soften, but zucchini is still tender-crisp. Add Italian seasoning and cook for another minute.

Now comes the fun part-layering! In a 9x13 casserole pan, put a thin layer of sauce as a base. Then layer 3-4 lasagna sheets to cover the bottom of the pan. Top with another thin layer of sauce, 1/2 of the vegetable mixture and a 1/3 of the package of cheese. Cover with 3-4 sheets of pasta and follow layering steps again. Cover with the last of the pasta, sauce and cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees F. Remove foil and bake another 5 minutes until cheese on top begins to turn golden brown.

I usually serve this up with the traditional sides of salad and garlic bread. This is not exactly a meal for two, so we always have leftovers.

Enjoy!

Emmy