I know that you have read where I am really trying to develop my own personal recipes versus just rehashing a cookbook recipe. So I am proud to announce a New Page here at the P and P Kitchen, Plaid and Paisley Original Recipes. You can find this new page at the top of the header. This page will take you to all the posts that have my very own recipes. I am really excited about this and I hope that you will spend some time perusing through the recipes. As time goes on more and more recipes will appear on this page so I hope that you will come back and check them often! Today’s recipe is an amazing dinner that you will love serving to your family.
You can use any combination of vegetables that you like. The addition of spinach would be amazing. For this meal I used Eggplant, Red and Yellow Pepper, Portabella Mushrooms, Zucchini and a Red Onion. Roasting them in the oven first really brings out the flavors and the sweetness of the peppers and onion. I know that it is an extra step and that it takes a bit more time than sauteeing them, but you will really notice a flavor difference and it really is a step worth taking. You can roast them the night before or that morning if you are pressed for time. One tip on the Eggplant, always Sweat them out first! Eggplant has a tendency to be bitter. Slice it and lay out the slices on paper towels, sprinkle with salt and let sit for 30 min. This will sweat all the bitterness out.
Another step that you can make ahead of time is the sauce. I almost recommend that you do make this the day ahead. Everyone knows that Italian always tastes better the second day. The reason for this is the flavors have had time to really combine and blend together. This is a really easy sauce and you will have no trouble whipping it up that evening but for a deep layer of flavor make it the day ahead. Another quick tip on an easy foolproof way to make Lasagna: par boil the noodles only. Boil for 7 min they will be pliable but not soft and break and make you pull your hair out! Trust me this will save your sanity for any dish that you have to Handle the pasta.
Don’t get scared off by the length of this recipe. There are a few steps but when you cook from scratch there always are. You will be so glad that you took the extra time and really created something wonderful and amazing tasting.
Ingredients
- 1 medium sized eggplant cut into 1/4' rounds and sweated out
- 1 red pepper sliced
- 1 yellow pepper sliced
- 2 portabella mushrooms cleaned
- 1 red onion quartered
- 3tbs olive oil
- 1 tbs salt
- 1/2 tbs black pepper
- 1 package lasagna noodles {not the ready to bake kind}
- For the sauce:
- 1 can of 14.05 oz diced tomatoes {drained}
- 1 can of 6 oz tomato paste
- 1 can on 8 oz basil garlic oregano tomato sauce
- 1 tbs concentrated tomato paste
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic and onion powder each
- 1 tbs oregano
- For the cheese layer:
- 8 oz low fat ricotta
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan
Instructions
- preheat oven to 375
- on a baking sheet lay out all the vegetables and drizzle 3 tbs olive oil and 1 tbs satl and 1/2 tbs black pepper and roast for 20 minutes
- let cool
- for the sauce:
- combine all the sauce ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil
- reduce heat and simmer for a min of 15 minutes and up to 30 {taste during this and adjust seasoning as needed}
- for the cheese layer:
- mix the ricotta cheese and egg and dried parsley in a bowl
- bring a pot of salted water to a boil and boil noodles for 7 min
- drain and rinse with cold water
- preheat oven to 350
- in a 9 x13 baking dish spread 1/8 cup of sauce on the bottom
- layer the first layer of noodles
- then vegetables
- then sauce
- then noodles
- then cheese
- then noodles and so forth till the dish is full
- make sure to end with a layer of noodles
- cover with foil and bake for 30 min
- remove foil and spread the parmesan cheese on top and bake for 10 more min
- I gave it a quick broil at the end to give it color
- let sit for 10 minutes before slicing
- Enjoy!!!
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