Hands Down Best Vegetable Lasagna!

You know that feeling when you have the absolute perfect dish? Like, it’s perfectly seasoned, all the flavors just go together perfectly, and you just want to keep eating because it’s so absolutely delicious, but your stomach is screaming at you to stop?

Well, here you go. This is one of those dishes. This is the absolute best vegetable lasagna that you will ever have! I’m not just saying that, it truly is wonderful. Warning: It’s not diet food. It’s cheat day food. Just warning you. But do yourself a favor and make it for your family. They will love you and buy you diamonds. Or new shoes. Or at the very least let you watch one of your shows for once.

I came up with this recipe after trying a few different recipes for vegetable lasagna. None of them were quite right, so I combined aspects of them and came up with this. You can use any veggies you want in it, but I chose spinach, red bell pepper, mushrooms, and onion. Combined with a creamy, cheesy sauce (and some more cheese thrown in, because I like cheese) and it’s just yummy, yummy, deliciousness.

lasagna-veggies

Start by slicing your vegetables so they are relatively bite size. You can see above my bell peppers are sliced into julienne strips, and then cut in half so that they aren’t long. I also sliced my onion into half strips.

I use a bag of frozen, chopped spinach. You can use fresh, but it cooks down significantly. I like to use frozen because it’s already cooked down and you know how much you are getting.

Start a pot of water boiling for your noodles. Then saute the mushrooms, peppers, and onion in some olive oil to get them softened up. Add the garlic and spinach, and cook until they are all warmed together.

lasagna-veggies

Next you can prepare the sauce. It’s a basic white sauce with some garlic, parsley, and parmesan cheese tossed in. If you aren’t sure about how to do a white sauce, the complete instructions are below with the recipe.

lasagna-white-sauce

Once the sauce is done, the veggies are done, and the noodles are cooked and drained, you can start building this beauty. I pour a little bit of sauce in the bottom of my pan to keep the noodles from sticking, but you can also use a little oil or butter. Layer noodles, veggies, some mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, and then drizzle some sauce over. Then repeat the process.

veggie-lasagna

Once you have completed your layers, top with one final layer of noodles. Pour the remaining sauce over the top to cover liberally, and allow some to drip down into the sides. Cover with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

vegetable-lasagna-before

Pop it into the oven and wait for it to become bubbly and golden brown on top. That’s when you know it’s perfect.

Feast your eyes for a moment on these layers! Don’t you just want to pick the plate up and scrape the whole thing right in your mouth and swallow it whole like Shaggy on Scooby Doo? Yeah, me too.

 

So here is the full recipe.

Hands Down Best Vegetable Lasagna

serves 6-8      total time: 1 hr 15 min.

1 lb. uncooked lasagna noodles

2 C shredded mozzarella cheese

1 C grated Parmesan

1/4 C extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, cut in half and thinly sliced into half-moons

3 cloves of garlic, minced

One 10-oz package frozen chopped spinach

1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced, then sliced in half (bite size slices)

8 oz. mushrooms, sliced

1 Tbsp. dried basil

salt and pepper to taste

For the sauce:

1/4 C butter

2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. dried parsley

1/4 C flour

1 C chicken stock

2 C milk

1/4 C grated Parmesan

 

Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 9×13 casserole dish.

Cook lasagna noodles in boiling, salted water according to package directions.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, peppers, and mushrooms, and cook until softened. Add garlic and spinach and cook until spinach is warmed. Remove from heat.

To make the white sauce, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the garlic powder, parsley, and flour, and stir until well-combined. Gradually add chicken stock, stirring frequently to avoid clumping. When the flour mixture is fully incorporated, add the milk. Continue stirring until sauce comes to a simmer. Add the Parmesan; continue to stir until the sauce is thick and creamy. Remove from heat.

To assemble the lasagna, layer noodles on bottom. Top with a generous layer of vegetables. Sprinkle some of the mozzarella and Parmesan over it, and then drizzle some white sauce on top. Continue with remaining ingredients. Top evenly with remaining sauce, mozzarella, and Parmesan. Bake until bubbly and lightly browned, about 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool about 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy! Let me know how yours turns out in the comments below!