Vegetable lasagna

5
Points®
Total Time
1 hr 28 min
Prep
18 min
Cook
1 hr 10 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
Easy
Here, we’ve created a delicious, impressive-looking lasagna that is chockfull of a variety of veggies and is super-easy to prepare—especially if you roast the vegetables and prepare the sauce ahead of time. No-boil lasagna noodles came to supermarkets in the nineties, raising lasagna’s status from a laborious special-occasion dish to almost a convenience food. When you're assembling, be sure to use all of the sauce, as it's needed to cook the noodles. For the layers, we use eggplants, zucchini, garlic, canned tomatoes, mushrooms, green peppers, and grated Parmesan cheese to create a satisfying, hearty lasagna that'll please both meat-eaters and vegetarians alike.

Ingredients

Uncooked eggplant

1 medium, (1 pound), peeled and sliced 1⁄4-inch thick

Uncooked zucchini

1 medium, (8-ounces), sliced 1⁄4-inch thick

Table salt

¼ tsp

Black pepper

tsp, freshly ground, or to taste

Olive oil

1 Tbsp

Garlic

1 clove(s), minced

Canned tomatoes

28 oz, whole, chopped with their juice

Mushrooms

10 oz, sliced

Green bell pepper

1 large, or 2 frying peppers, finely chopped

Fresh parsley

½ cup(s), flat-leaf, chopped

No cook lasagna noodles

5 piece(s), (6 1⁄2 x 7-inch) sheets or 10 (3 1⁄2 x 6 1⁄2-inch)

Parmesan cheese

2 oz, freshly grated

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Spray 2 baking sheets and an 8-inch-square baking dish with nonstick spray. Arrange the eggplant and zucchini slices on the baking sheets, overlapping a few slices, if necessary. Spray the tops with nonstick spray, sprinkle with the salt and pepper, and bake until tender, 15 minutes. Set aside (leave the oven on).
  2. Heat a large nonstick skillet. Swirl in the oil, then add the garlic. Sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, mushrooms, frying peppers, parsley, and another grinding of the pepper; cook over medium-low heat until the sauce is bubbling but not yet thickened. Remove from the heat. (The sauce can be made up to 3 days ahead at this point; just transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate.)
  3. Spread 1⁄2 cup of the sauce evenly over the bottom of the baking dish. Cover with 1 or 2 lasagna noodles (depending on the size you are using); top with one-fourth of the eggplant and zucchini slices, then top with another 1⁄2 cup of the sauce. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the Parmesan cheese. Repeat the procedure to make 4 more layers, ending with a layer of noodles topped with sauce. If any sauce remains, pour it on the top and around the edges of the lasagna. Press down gently on the lasagna with a spatula to help the noodles absorb the sauce; the lasagna will compact as it cooks.
  4. Cover with foil and bake until bubbling, about 35 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until all the sauce has been absorbed, about 10–15 minutes. Yields 2 cups per serving.