Vegetable Lasagna

A lot of small steps come together to make this delicious (and versatile) lasagna. We use whatever we have on hand, but this is the basic idea.

Vegetable Lasagna

Marinara Sauce (can use jarred, but we make ours):
3 cans of diced, stewed tomatoes
1 bunch of basil, about 1/2 cup leaves
Stew together for about 30 minutes and then add garlic, salt, and pepper to taste. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth.

Cheese layer:
1 1/2 cups cottage (or ricotta) cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cups parmesan cheese, shredded
1 egg
1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
2 cloves minced garlic

Vegetables:
1 medium zucchini, sliced thin (I use a vegetable peeler)
2 carrots, finely diced
1 bell pepper, finely diced
2-3 cups baby spinach, washed
[The carrots and bell pepper, or any other hard vegetable, should be stewed together until fork-tender.]

Oven-ready noodles
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 425*. Spread a thin layer of marinara sauce on the bottom of a casserole pan. Top with noodles, cheese mixture, veggies (cooked mixture, zucchini slices, and then spinach), mozzarella cheese, sauce, repeat until the top of the pan. The last layer should be noodles and then sauce.

Cover with tin foil, bake for 40 minutes. Remove tin foil, top with more shredded cheese and cook for 20 minutes more or until cheese is bubbly and golden.