Vegetarian for a week (part 2)

Last week, I posted two tofu recipes. This week, I have experimented cooking meatless on of my favorite dishes of all. LASAGNA!!! I love lasagna! I love any pasta, but lasagna has everything in it, cheese, sauce, ground beef, and more cheese. This time though I tried to make it a little bit healthier.

The first lasagna was a Vegetable Lasagna.

Vegetable Lasagna

Ingredients

• 10 ounces, weight Lasagna Noodles
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 whole Medium Onion
• 4 cloves Garlic
• 1 whole Red Bell Pepper, Diced
• 24 ounces, weight White Mushrooms, Chopped
• 4 whole Squash (yellow Or Zucchini), Diced
• 1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes
• 1/2 cup White Wine
• 1/4 cup Fresh Parsley, Chopped (more To Taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt (more To Taste)
•  Freshly Ground Black Pepper
•  1/2 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
• 30 ounces, weight Ricotta Cheese
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1/2 cup Grated Parmesan
• 1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
•  Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 1 pound Thinly Sliced Mozzarella Cheese
•  Extra Parmesan Cheese, For Sprinkling

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and lay flat on a sheet of aluminum foil.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook for a minute. Add diced red peppers and saute for another minute or so. Add squash and mushrooms and cook for a few minutes. Pour in wine, add salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, and stir.

Pour in tomatoes. Use hands to squeeze/crush them. Stir to combine and let simmer for 20 minutes or so. Stir in chopped parsley.

In a separate bowl, combine ricotta, eggs, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.

To assemble, spread a little of the vegetable/tomato sauce in a lasagna pan. Layer four cooked noodles in the pan, slightly overlapping them if necessary. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture on the noodles. Top the ricotta mixture with mozzarella slices. Spoon a little less than 1/3 of the veggie/sauce mixture over the mozzarella.

Repeat the layering two more times, ending with a large helping of vegetable sauce and a sprinkling of Parmesan.

Bake at 350 degrees, covered in foil, for 20 minutes, then remove foil and continue baking for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 10 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.

The second recipe, omits pasta. It was a different kind of lasagna. I mean a lasagna without pasta, it's not really a lasagna. I guess for this reason my husband was a little bit surprised to see what was inside the lasagna, and honestly, he didn't end up liking it. However, I loved it and I think all lovers of sweet potato and quinoa will love it as well, because this is a Sweet Potato Quinoa Lasagna.

Sweet Potato Quinoa Lasagna

Click here for the recipe.

I hope you all like these recipes. And if you ever try any of them, please let me know if you like them or not.

I love your comments so keep them coming!

Warmly,

Juliana