Vegetable Lasagne

After being afraid of making lasagne in my early 20's it is now one of the easy meals that I am so used to preparing that I rarely use a recipe.  This recipe is one of the many different lasagnes I cook.  So please forgive me if it seems a little long winded, as I wrote this one out myself weeks after making and taking the photos. This is such a delicious dish that my kids will eat, particularly because it has lasagne sheets, tomato sauce and cheese, which tend to disguise the vegies and fools them into thinking they are eating a regular lasagne.  It may look a little complicated but just prepare the chopped vegies and sauce ahead of time and all you have to do is make up the layers.  The tomato sauce could be made anytime even the day before, just heat it up a little before you start layering.  I also make a double size lasagne in a large baking dish.  We usually get two meals out of it and serve it again a few days later.  The ingredients below should be enough for a standard lasagne dish, if you use a larger one just double the ingredients.

Vegetable Lasagne

Filling
2 zuchini’s sliced
1 carrot thinly sliced
1 capsicum (red bell pepper)
fresh baby spinach
fresh basil and oregano leaves.
lasagne sheets

Tomato Sauce
1 800g tin of chopped whole peeled tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic crushed
1 brown onion diced finely
salt and pepper to taste
extra virgin olive oil

Topping

Ricotta cheese approx 375g
Grated Colby approx 1-2 cups
Sliced mozzerella or bocconcini 

(approx 1 container of bocconcini)

Turn oven on to 200° C/400° F

To make the sauce cook onions in pan on medium heat with olive oil, until softened. Add tinned chopped tomatoes, mix and simmer, then add crushed garlic. You might want to cover a little as the tomato bubbles about a lot. Allow to simmer on low heat for at least 10 mins while you prepare the vegetables.

Spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of lasagne dish, then a layer of zuchini, carrot, capsicum, spinach, basil and oregano and a little more sauce. Then place the lasagne sheets evenly across. Layer more vegies and then sauce and repeat again.  You end up with about three layers of lasagne sheets and vegies.

For the top layer after you put down the last layer of lasagne sheets dob a few blobs of sauce over the lasagne sheets, dob some blobs of riccotta cheese, sprinkle with grated colby cheese and top with small slices of mozzerella or bocconcini cheese. Then blob any sauce in spots over top of the cheese.  I like dobbing blobs.

Bake in a hot oven 200°C/400°F for about 40-45 mins or until the top is bubbling and browned a little.  Serve with a side salad or just on its own.