Cooking with L: April Edition

Cooking+with+L%3A+April+Edition

One of L’s favorite recipes, this vegetable lasagna is a perfect meal for everyone to enjoy. It takes some time but that is what makes it even superior. I suggest making it one day in advance since it needs to stay refrigerated for 24 hours before baking. It’s delicious and knocks the socks off your company. 

 Makes 6 servings Bake: 55 minutes Let stand: 10 minutes 

  • 1 serving has 425 calories 

Ingredients 

Essential Equipment: an 8 inches or 9 inches square pan or baking dish

  • 1 medium zucchini
  • 2 cups spaghetti sauce 
  • 1 package (10 ounces) of frozen chopped spinach, thawed 
  • 1 ½ ups of reduced-fat cottage cheese or ricotta cheese (12 ounces) 
  • ⅓ cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh or 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano leaves
  • 1 can (4 ounces) of mushroom stems and pieces 
  • 8 purchased precooked or oven-ready lasagna noodles (each about 7×3 in)
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 ounces) 
  • *vegetable are here as suggestions, you could pick your preferred vegetable 

Directions 

  1. Shred the zucchini by rubbing it across the largest holes of a shredder. You will need about 1 cup. Mix the spaghetti sauce and zucchini in a medium bowl.
  2. Drain the thawed spinach in a strainer, then squeeze out the excess moisture from the spinach, using paper towels or a clean kitchen towel, until the spinach is dry 
  3. Mix the spinach, cottage cheese, parm cheese, and oregano in a medium bowl. Drain the mushroom in a strainer. Spread ½ cup of the sauce mixture in the ungreased square pan.
  4. Top the sauce mixture in the pan with 2 noodles, placing them so they do not overlap or touch the sides of the pan because they will expand as they bake. Spread one-fourth of the remaining sauce mixture (about ½ cup) over the noodles. 
  5. Drop one-fourth of the spinach mixture by small spoonfuls over the sauce mixture; spread carefully, pulling with the tines of a fork if necessary. Sprinkle one-fourth of the mushrooms and ½ cup of mozzarella cheese.
  6. Repeat layering three more times, beginning with 2 more noodles and following directions in steps 4 and 5. Cover with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. (The plastic wrap keeps the lasagna from touching the aluminum foil while being refrigerated.)
  7. Heat the oven to 400o, remove the plastic wrap from the lasagna, then cover the lasagna again with aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes. Carefully remove the foil, and continue baking for about 10 minutes longer or until the lasagna is bubbly around the edges. Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes, so the lasagna will become easier to cut and serve.