This Roasted Vegetable Lasagna is so packed full of healthy vegetables, you won’t even miss the meat. The secret is to roast the vegetables first for maximum flavour.
There are all kinds of vegetables that work well in a vegetarian lasagna. You might find lots of seasonal veggies if it’s the right time or year, or, choose what looks good while shopping and make use of what’s in your fridge. As long as you have about 8 cups in total, basically enough to generously fill a baking sheet, you’re good to go. It sounds like a lot but the veggies reduce and intensify when roasted, giving you not just added nutrition, but also loads of flavour.
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What are the best vegetables for Roasted Vegetable Lasagna?
I like to use any combination of onions, shallots, leeks, mushrooms, sweet peppers, eggplant, zucchini, summer squash and of course tomatoes. You can use chopped tomatoes or halved cherry tomatoes or both. Cut everything into similar sized chunks. They don’t have to be too small because they shrink to about half their size. And toss in some unpeeled cloves of garlic too. The peels will protect the cloves from burning. Helpful tip – count how many cloves you add so you remember to remove them from the roasted vegetable mixture. Usually they’re golden and soft before the veggies are finished roasting so check when you’re stirring and pick them out once they’re soft. They tend to be hard to find in the mixture, it’s kind of like a Where’s Waldo situation.
Scatter the veggies onto a large parchment lined baking sheet. Drizzle lots of olive oil over top and season with salt and pepper, dried basil and oregano. Be patient. It takes about 45 minutes for the veggies to be reduced and caramelized. Give the mixture a stir after about 20 minutes, then watch carefully for the liquid to reduce and the veggies to be well roasted.
Scrape everything, including any juices into a bowl and stir in some pasta sauce. Squeeze the soft garlic out of the cloves and mix that in too. Toss in a few handfuls of spinach while the mixture is warm. This mixture will be for 2 layers in your lasagna.
In another bowl combine cottage cheese and an egg. You can use ricotta instead of cottage cheese if you like but cottage cheese is less expensive. Or half of each which is something I often do. Then grate your mozzarella and add half to the cottage cheese mixture, saving the rest for the top. I also include fresh (not dried) parmesan in the cheese mixture for extra flavour. Toss in some chopped parsley and season with black pepper. Please don’t use low fat cheese. Ever. It doesn’t melt properly and the top of your lasagna ends up looking like melted plastic.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a bit of salt. Lay a kitchen towel on the counter and cook 8 noodles at a time until al dente. By not crowding themĀ in the pot you can ensure they all cook evenly and can remove them quickly before they overcook and start tearing. Cook the next batch while you’re assembling the first few layers. Don’t worry if a noodle gets torn, just use that one somewhere in the middle and save the best ones for the top and sides.
Spoon a very thin layer of sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Place 3 noodles side by side over the sauce. Spoon half of the vegetable mixture evenly over the noodles. Cover with 3 more noodles. Spread half of the cheese and egg mixture over top. Lay a third layer of noodles and spread the remaining vegetable mixture evenly over top. Then add 3 more noodles and spread the remaining cheese mixture evenly. Top with the last 3 noodles and spread about a cup of sauce over top. Cover with the rest of the shredded mozzarella. Yes, that’s 15 lasagna noodles.
At this point you can let the assembled lasagna rest in the fridge and bake it later. In fact, you can make it a day ahead. If you do, increase the amount of sauce you mix into the vegetables to prevent those layers from becoming too dry. If you’re baking your Roasted Vegetable Lasagna after being refrigerated, add a little extra time in the oven. Maybe about 10 minutes more during the initial covered baking time.
Since this is a heavy multi layer lasagna, it needs a little more cooking time than a typical lasagna. Adding some foil to the pan for the first part of cooking will help keep the cheese soft while allowing enough time to fully cook the lasagna. You don’t want the cheese to stick to the foil so you can either rub or spray non stick coating on the foil or fold it in a tent shape and just attach the foil to the edges of the pan, keeping the middle tented.
After about 45 minutes, remove the foil and continue to bake for another 40 to 45 minutes until its bubbling around the edges and the cheese is melted and browning. Make sure you rest the lasagna at least 15 minutes before serving. It would be too hot to serve right away and the pieces will hold together better. Since there are lots of veggies in this version you don’t even need to make a salad.
If you make Roasted Vegetable Lasagna, consider leaving a comment or rating below. Here’s the recipe:
Roasted Vegetable Lasagna
Ingredients
- 15 lasagna noodles
- 8 cups chopped vegetables such as tomatoes, eggplants, summer squash, sweet peppers, onions, leeks, mushrooms, shallots, etc.
- 5 cloves unpeeled garlic
- Ā¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp salt
- Ā½ tsp pepper
- 3 cups jarred or homemade pasta sauce choose a plain sauce like marinara
- 3 cups loosely packed spinach chop if not using baby spinach
- 3 cups cottage cheese or ricotta or half of each
- 1 large egg
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- Ā½ cup fresh parmesan, grated or shredded not dried parm in a can
- Ā¼ cup fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
- Chop vegetables into bite sized pieces. Toss in olive oil and season well with salt and pepper, basil and oregano. Scatter on large baking sheet along with garlic cloves and roast at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes until all liquid has evaporated and veggies are well caramelized. Stir every 15 minutes or so. Remove garlic cloves once they are soft and golden.
- Scrape vegetable mixture into a large bowl, including any liquid and dark bits. Squeeze soft garlic into bowl and add 2 cups of pasta sauce. Stir in spinach while warm.
- While vegetables are roasting, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook half of lasagna noodles until al dente. Drain on clean kitchen towel. Cook other half while preparing layers.
- Shred mozzarella cheese. Add half into a large bowl, along with cottage cheese (and or ricotta if using), parmesan, egg and parsley.
- To assemble, spread a thin layer, approximately Ā½ cup of sauce in the bottom of a rectangular baking dish. Lay 3 cooked lasagna noodles side by side, then cover with half of the vegetable mixture.
- Add 3 more noodles and top with half of the cottage cheese mixture.
- Add 3 more noodles and spread remaining vegetable mixture over top. Add 3 more noodles and spread remaining cheese mixture evenly over top. Top with last 3 noodles. Spread remaining Ā½ cup pasta sauce over top evenly.
- Top with remaining shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Spray or wipe a sheet of foil with oil to prevent the cheese from sticking or fold into a tent. Loosely cover lasagna and bake in the centre of preheated oven at 350Ā° for 45 minutes. Remove foil and cook uncovered 40 - 45 minutes longer or until the top is browning and bubbling.
- Let rest at least 15 minutes before cutting.
Looks delicious!
Read this recipe before I rolled out of bed this morning….which led to French onion and leek soup, then olive and onion bread. They all look amazing! I will definitely be making all 3, at different times of course, when we have company. Iām making your Coq Au Vin at the end of July, preparing most of it prior to a round of golf with Rick and Val and then coming back for dinner, canāt wait!
Wow, I’m so glad to have inspired you!
I have had the pleasure of being invited to your table for vegetable lasagna and it was delicious! I’m going to make it at some point this summer. š