Get Cooking featured recipe: Summer Vegetable Lasagna

Here's the recipe from our Get Cooking! at the Hub event this summer. The recipe can be altered to incorporate any seasonal vegetables. Enjoy!

Summer Vegetable Lasagna*
Servings: 12-14
Prep Time: 50 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Pricing: When we made this recipe, and shopped at Trader Joe’s and Bi-Rite Market, pricing came out to ~$2.55 per serving

Ingredients:

Lasagna

• 1 pound box lasagna noodles, preferably whole wheat
• (*can substitute gluten-free brown rice noodles)
• 1 batch Summer Vegetable Sauce (see below)
• 1 batch Pesto (see below)
• 1 pound bag frozen spinach
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (*optional)

Summer Vegetable Sauce

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 large cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 large red onion, diced
• 4 bell peppers, diced
• 2 mild chili peppers (e.g., anaheim), diced
• 2 large eggplants, diced
• 4 portobello mushrooms, diced
• 1 750 gram box or can chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Pesto

• 1 bunch basil
• 1 bunch flat leaf parsley
• 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 4 ounces parmesan cheese, grated (*optional)
• 1/2 cup walnut halves
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Method:

• Prepare the lasagna noodles: place noodles in a 9”x13” baking dish. Cover with boiling water and let soak for 30 minutes.
• Make the pesto: combine ingredients in food processor. Process until well blended.
• Defrost the frozen spinach according to the package directions. Drain of any excess water and mix with pesto.

Make the sauce:

• Heat the olive oil and garlic in a large (12”) skillet over medium flame. When the garlic begins to bubble, add the onion and sauté for a few minutes, until softened.
• Add the peppers and chilies to the pan, and sauté for a few minutes to soften.
• Add the eggplant, mushrooms, chopped tomatoes, and salt. Stir to combine everything, turn heat down to medium-low, cover skillet, and let simmer for 30 minutes, until eggplant is thoroughly cooked. Transfer half of sauce into blender and blend. Add blended sauce back to veggie mixture to create a chunky sauce.

Assemble lasagna:

• Ladle a cup of the Summer Vegetable Sauce evenly over the bottom of the dish.
• Place a layer of lasagna noodles on top of the sauce. You may have to cut them to fit.
• Spread a layer of pesto spinach over the noodles and then add another layer of noodles. Ladle on a few cups of the sauce. Add another layer of noodles. Repeat until the pan is full and all noodles are used.
• Top lasagna with grated Parmesan cheese.
• To cook, preheat oven to 375°. Bake for 45 minutes, until browned on top. Cool for 30 minutes before slicing.

* Adapted from Operagirlcooks.com recipe