As per usual for this time of year, I have an overabundance of vegetables from my garden so it's time to get creative. I refuse to throw these beauties away. I was thinking of making an elaborate vegetable lasagna from scratch but then I realized it was 95 degrees out and I wanted to get dinner in the oven quick so here is my shortcut version.
I really wish I had some carrots on hand to add some color to this because with all the white and green it looks a bit blah but I wasn't going for pretty, I was going for delicious and that is what I got.
I generally am against the no boil noodles but I had them on hand from some recipe I found on Pinterest so I used those to make it even easier and I have to say they weren't bad. Please don't tell anyone in my very italian family, they would disown me.
I julienned all my veg (except mushroom) because it was an easy way to keep things the same size which is always good for even cooking and I think it makes for easier eating when all are similar size. But if you are not fortunate enough to have a mandolin just chop 'em up.
Here's what I used, keep in mine you could use really any vegetables you have on hand but these seemed to work really well. Like I said, I wished I had some carrots and spinach would have worked well here too.
- 2 jars Alfredo sauce (any variety)
- 1 box no boil lasagna noodle
- julienned vegetables of choice (I used zucchini, summer squash and mushroom)
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- 2 C shredded mozzarella
- ½ C shredded parmesan cheese
- 1-2 T olive oil
- handful of fresh basil or parsley
- optional - 2 C cooked chicken or sausage
Here's what to do:
Heat the oil in high sided saute pan (high enough that you can put the sauce in basically), saute onion and garlic until soft. Add the rest of your veg. and cook until tender crisp or to your vegetable crispness liking (i prefer them to have a bit of bite left). If you are using meat, add the cooked meat now, then add the jars of sauce and cook just until heated through. Remove from heat.
In a 9x13 pan: brush the bottom with a bit of oil. Put a bit of the veggie alfredo sauce on bottom, begin layering like this: 4 pasta sheets (slightly overlapping), a good helping of mozzarella, veggie alfredo sauce. Continue to layer this way until either you have used all up or it doesn't fit in your pan! Just make sure your top layer is the veggie alfredo sauce. Sprinkle the top with your parmesan cheese and bake at 350 covered w/ foil for about an hour. Top w/ fresh herbs. Here's the hard part, let it stand for at least 15 minutes prior to serving. This is a rule for all lasagna. You need to give it time to meld together. I actually prefer to cook a lasagna early in the day and eat it that evening giving it plenty of time to develop.
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