I used to be really afraid to make lasagna. Like it was just too difficult. Plus, as a vegetarian that really doesn’t love the taste of ricotta, lasagna was never a priority for me. Then I was asked to make a lasagna and I started researching recipes. I tried a couple I didn’t love until I took matters into my own hands and just started tweaking the ingredients until this happened ad I couldn’t be happier.
Warning: This isn’t a “cheap” meal. You can save a few dollars by doing some more work on your own (shred whole carrots instead of buying the more expensive bag of shred, dice & spice tomatoes and peppers from your own garden instead of buying them in a can, making your own Alfredo sauce, use shaker cheese instead of fresh shredded Parmesan). So many of the ingredients need to be fresh, so it’s not like you can buy in bulk. However, it is still less expensive than taking 4 or 5 out to a restaurant.
This recipe is delicious. Just typing it up makes me hungry. It is the furthest thing from low fat, *not* gluten free, and is *not* vegan, but is vegetarian. And is oh, so very good. Sorry I don’t have pictures right now, but I’ll try to remember to snap some next time I make it.
Lasagna is intimidating to a lot of people, but this recipe is really quite simple. The hardest part (for me) is getting the lasagna noodles out without burning myself or having them stick to EVERYTHING. I’ve even tried no-boil noodles but they turned out horrible in this dish.
Note: This recipe is yummy, but if you want a whole lotta extra OOMPF, my dearest La has taken certain “liberties” and transformed this into a delicious frankenlasagna. Plus, in her ongoing campaign against all things basic, she upped the ante and made the sauce from scratch. All hail the Kitchen Wizard!
Preheat oven to 350
Serves 4-5 with leftovers (hint: double all the ingredients and divide into three pans to serve a small army!)
Prep time: about 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups (or 10 oz bag) of shredded carrots – I find boiling them a minute with the frozen broccoli softens them nicely
- 1 large (red, green, or yellow) bell pepper (diced)
- 12 lasagna noodles (not no-boil!)
- 1 can diced Italian-style (spiced) tomatoes (DRAINED!) note: if you prefer to use fresh tomatoes or can’t find Italian-style tomatoes, I recommend sprinkling a blend of Italian seasoning in the vegetable mixture below.
- 20 oz (2 jars) Alfredo sauce (or if you want to be a show-off, check out La‘s from-scratch Parm sauce!)
- 1 egg
- 15 oz ricotta cheese (low fat works well here)
- 1/2 cup (plus a little extra) grated fresh Parmesan cheese (look for it in the dairy section, this isn’t exactly the same as shaker cheese!)
- 16 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
- 12 oz broccoli florets (chopped) – thawed if you buy frozen.
- Garlic toast (optional). I personally prefer Texas Toast 4 Cheese Garlic Bread from the freezer section.
DIRECTIONS:
- Cook Lasagna noodles according to package. Try to retrieve and separate without giving yourself third degree burns or tearing the noddles into chunky ribbons.
- In a large bowl, stir chopped broccoli florets, shredded carrots, drained canned tomatoes, and diced bell pepper. Note: you can add a sprinkle of Italian seasoning to this mixture for a little extra kick but it’s not necessary, especially if you used Italian seasoned tomatoes.
- In a small bowl, mix egg, ricotta, and ½ cup Parmesan cheese.
In lasagna pan:
- Spread ¾ cups Alfredo sauce (about half a jar) in pan.
- Lay out 4 cooked noodles.
- Spread ½ of ricotta mixture on noodles.
- Spread about ½ of vegetables mixture on top of the ricotta.
- Top with generous dollops of Alfredo sauce.
- Lay out another 4 noodles.
- Spread remaining ricotta mixture, then top with most of remaining vegetable mixture.
- Add generous dollops of Alfredo sauce.
- Lay out remaining 4 noodles.
- Spread Alfredo sauce liberally on top.
- Sprinkle with mozzarella.
- Add any remaining vegetables.
- Sprinkle with any remaining Parmesan cheese.
Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.
Serve with garlic bread or salad as desired.
Hint: If you’ve got any leftovers, dump any remaining Alfredo sauce on the leftovers as it tends to dry up a little in the microwave.
Like I said, this isn’t the cheapest meal, so I decided to break down the cost of the ingredients. These are 2020 prices from my local grocery store. This easily serves 5 hungry people, so it breaks down to about $8 per person.
| 12 lasagna noodles | $ 2.29 |
| 12 oz broccoli florets (frozen) | $ 2.29 |
| 2 cups shredded carrots | $ 2.49 |
| 1 can diced Italian-style | $ 2.49 |
| 1 large bell pepper | $ 2.29 |
| 15 oz ricotta cheese | $ 3.99 |
| 1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan | $ 5.99 |
| 1 egg | $ 0.15 |
| 20 oz (2 jars) Alfredo sauce | $ 5.78 |
| 16 oz (2 bags) shredded mozzarella | $ 6.78 |
| Garlic toast (Frozen Texas Toast) | $ 3.49 |
| TOTAL | $ 38.03 |
#YummyInMyTummy #OliviaBlacke
