Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Vegetarian Lasagna

Wow was this yummy!!!!  My favorite part of this is how healthy it is.  Full of veggies and I didn't miss the meat at all!  My vegetables kept a tiny crunch, so this definitely had a nice texture to it!  I expected mush, but it wasn't the case at all!

My husband put in a request for no red meat this week and I think I've delivered thus far!  This smelled SOOOOO good cooking and it tasted even better!  My daughter actually cleared her plate!  Yay!!!!  We had enough for leftovers for 2 nights for the 3 of us!  Pretty good, huh?!!!

I hope you take the time to make this for your family.  Yes, it takes a few minutes to make the sauce, but I promise, it's worth it!  If you don't have time to make your own sauce, buy 2 jars and use those.  :)

Oh, and my camera died while making this, so there are not as many pictures as usual.  I was totally bummed!  Sorry :(

Ok, here it is!!
Vegetarian Lasagna

Ingredients:
1/2-3/4 box of lasagna noodles
1 cup chopped zucchini
1 cup chopped yellow squash
1 10oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained
1 cup skim ricotta cheese
2-3 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

Sauce:

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 28oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 15oz. can tomato sauce
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
I used my 7 Quart Crock Pot Slow Cooker for this, but the first time I made lasagna in my slow cooker, I used a 3 Quart.
Start your sauce first, by cooking your onions in the Olive Oil until they are translucent (and mine browned a bit as I was busy trying to get Gavin his pacifier!)

Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and spices.  Let it simmer while you chop your veggies and prepare the ricotta/mozzarella mix.

Mix together the ricotta and 1 1/2 cups of mozzarella cheese.

Last time I made this, I had a helper.....who actually stayed awake.  My help fell asleep on the job...

Spray your insert with non-stick spray.
Now, ladle about a little less than 1/3 of your pasta sauce on the bottom of the Slow Cooker insert.  Cover the bottom of the insert with lasagna noodles.  It doesn't have to look pretty! :)
Add a layer of HALF of your Ricotta mixture.  I find it easiest to spoon it on top of the noodles in a square pattern.  I then use the back of my spoon to gently nudge it and spread it out over the noodles.
(This is where my camera died :( )

Next spread half of your spinach, half your zucchini and half your yellow squash over the cheese mixture.

Ladle about 1/3 of your pasta sauce on top.
Add another layer of lasagna noodles.
Add another layer of the remaining ricotta mixture.
Add another layer of the veggies.
Top with almost all of the rest of your sauce.  Reserve a couple ladle fulls for the top.
Add one last layer of lasagna noodles and spread the remaining sauce over the top.

Cook on HIGH for 2 hours or on LOW for 3-4 hours.
1/2 hour before serving, sprinkle the top with 1-2 cups of Mozzarella Cheese.
Leave the lid off!

Serve and Enjoy! 
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