Vegetarian Lasagna

Alright, so I'm not even a vegetarian. I LOVE meat way too much to be one. But my friend who's vegetarian, annoyingly insisted on me making him some food one night and decided on lasagna. I was a bit skeptical at first, but DANG that was probably one of the best lasagna dishes I've ever had! So here is the recipe for you my friends!


INGREDIENTS:

FOR THE SAUCE:
4 T butter
6 T all-purpose flour
2 C milk*
1 C parmesan cheese, grated
1 15oz container of ricotta*

FOR THE VEGGIE FILLING:
1/2 C onion finely chopped**
1/2 C green bell pepper chopped***
1 1/2 C shredded raw carrots
2 C frozen broccoli roughly chopped
2 1/2 C fresh mushrooms coarsely chopped
2 1/2-3 C freshly chopped spinach leaves

12-16 lasagna noodles
4 C shredded mozzarella****

First, cook your lasagna noodles according to the package*****. (I always forget to cook my noodles until I'm halfway done so I have to wait longer!)
The best way I've found to have the noodles not stick together afterwards is to drain them and then throw them in a bowl of cold water!

Next, you're going to make the sauce. Start off making a roux with the butter and flour.
Over medium heat, melt butter in a medium saucepan.
Once melted add the flour to make a paste.
Then add your milk.
Continue to stir until it begins to thicken.
Once it is thick, add 1/2 C of parmesan cheese and ricotta.
Stir it up, remove from heat and set it aside.

Now you're going to start on the veggie filling.
In a large pan, sauté the onions and peppers with olive oil.
Then add in your carrots, broccoli, and 1 1/2 C of your mushrooms.
Sauté until your veggies get soft, and then add 2 C of your spinach last and cook for an additional minute.
Remove from heat and set aside.

STACKING THE LASAGNA:
Preheat your oven to 350.
Put a thin layer of sauce at the bottom of your pan and layer your noodles across the top of sauce (could be between 3-4 noodles depending on the width of your pan.)
While your veggie filling is still in the pan divide it into thirds so you can have even layers of filling for each section.
Spread a third of the veggie filling on top of the noodles then add some sauce and a layer of mozzarella cheese.
Put more noodles on top of layer and repeat until you get to the top layer of lasagna.
Then add the last portion of the sauce and spread the remaining mushrooms and spinach over the sauce.
Load the top off with the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

Cover with foil, bake 30-40 minutes until cheese is melted.
Turn your broiler on high and wait for cheese on top to get nice and bubbly and a golden brown color! (Make sure you keep a good eye on your lasagna! Check it every 15-20 seconds! It could burn fast!)

* For the milk and ricotta, for a healthier option you can use fat-free or skim!
** I hate onions, well the texture, seeing them and them in my mouth. But I love the taste! So I used a food grinder that made them super tiny and only used half an onion, and it turned out great!
*** Bell pepper...yeah, I thought that was a good idea. But then I remembered how much I hate them and thought, mmmm...betta not. So next time I'm going to not use them!
****MOZZARELLA! Holy Hanna! Cheese is so great. The recipe I based my lasagna off of only called for 2 cups. But then I always use way more cheese for the fact that it is delicious. ANYWAY! If you buy the Kraft mozzarella cheese that says on the package WITH A TOUCH OF PHILADELPHIA, I guess it's supposed to be creamier. I bought it for a White Creamy Chicken and Artichoke Lasagna last week and it turned out SO GOOD! But I used regular mozzarella this time and it was still fabulous. Okay I'm done talking about how great cheese is now.
***** Lasagna noodles! I like mine soft, not al dente. Cause I've realized that with leftovers they're still hard. And I like lasagna nice and soft! But that's just a personal choice. You do whatever! :)


Alright, so that was such a yummy dish! I am definitely going to make it again! But not add the peppers. I am going to try and make this again but with some zucchini maybe some sun dried tomatoes and if I'm feeling a bit carnivorous, I think chicken would go SO great with this!

Anyway, I hope enjoy as much as we did!