Friday, May 11, 2012

F.o.F: Lasagna for my Lover

Vegetable Lasagna Recipe


One of my husband's favorite things about being married is the fact that he gets to have homecooked meals with his wife (aww, so sweet I know). This is one part of being married that I also thoroughly enjoy. Now because I have multiple food allergies that Chance doesn't, sometimes I end up making 2 different meals for us. The meal that I make for him is usually something that he can take as leftovers, and eat for the next few days. This past week he mentioned how he missed lasagna. I have issues with lasagna - wheat pasta noodles & heavy ricotta cheese do NOT make for a happy wife-y if you catch my drift. So I found a recipe online and modified it with what I had on hand - it is vegetable lasagna that my husband described as "SO good, and so.. light!". I never thought the word "light" would be used to describe lasagna, but with all these veggies it's no wonder he enjoyed it so much :)
I hope that you can make it for someone you love, too.

recipe taken from myrecipes.com - Cooking Light magazine 2001
 Ingredients
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 3/4 cup sliced mushrooms
  • 2 small zucchini, chopped
  • 3-4 carrots, diced in the food processor 
  • 1 chopped red (or green) bell pepper
  • 1/2 cup  white or sweet onion
  • 1 (26-ounce) bottle fat-free tomato basil pasta sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sun-dried tomato pesto
  • 1 (15-ounce) carton part-skim ricotta cheese
  • Cooking spray
  • 6 ready to bake lasagna noodles (I used Barilla) 
  • 3/4 cup (3 ounce) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375º.
  2. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add mushrooms and the next 4 ingredients (mushrooms through onion); cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add pasta sauce; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.
  3. Combine pesto and ricotta in a small bowl. Spread 1/2 cup tomato mixture in the bottom of a 8-inch square baking dish or pan coated with cooking spray. Arrange 4 noodle halves over tomato mixture. Top noodles with half of ricotta mixture and 1 cup tomato mixture. Repeat layers, ending with noodles. Spread remaining tomato mixture over noodles; sprinkle with mozzarella.
  4. Cover and bake at 375º for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes.
  5. Notes: To make ahead, assemble as directed; stop before baking. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Let stand 30 minutes at room temperature; bake as directed. For easy cleanup, assemble in a disposable 8-inch aluminum-foil pan. If you're making for a gift, deliver uncooked with baking instructions.
For gluten-free/dairy-free people:

I made my own dish that consisted of all the sauteed veggies mixed with about a tablespoon of the sun-dried tomato pesto and 3/4 cup rice penne pasta! I through some dairy-free rice mozzarella cheese on top and had my own yummy "Italian" inspired dish that perfectly accommodated all of my allergies!

(note: the photo above I took off of the myrecipes.com website for this recipe!)

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