Veggie Lasagna

Not vegan but for the dairy consuming vegetarian, go to town!  :)  This is a great dish to give someone, unbaked, because they can pop it in the freezer and then thaw it out and bake it at their own leisure.






Ingredients:
Oven baked vegetables (see previous recipe)
5 cups favorite pasta sauce
1 cup water
15 oz. part skim ricotta cheese
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, plus more for later use
salt and pepper
dried basil and/or oregano
1 box no boil lasagna (DeBoles gluten free is good)
8 oz. bag shredded mozzarella cheese

Mix sauce and water together in a bowl.
Mix eggs, ricotta cheese, salt, pepper and 1/4 cup Parmesan in a separate bowl.
Have cooked veggies ready.

For using a 9x13 baking dish/pan:
Pour 1/2 cup sauce on the bottom of pan.
Line pan with lasagna noodles
Put 1/3 of the cheese mixture on top and spread along noodles (NOTE!! NOT 1/3 CUP BUT 1/3 OF THE ENTIRE PORTION.  SAME BELOW)
Put 1/3 of the veggies on top
Cover with 1/3 of the sauce
Cover sauce with 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese
Add a few shakes of Parmesan and a few shakes of dried basil and/or oregano.
Repeat layers twice.
Bake, covered, at 350, for 45 minutes and then uncover and bake until middle is hot and cheese is bubbling.
If you have refrigerated or frozen and then thawed the lasagna, it may take a bit longer.
Once it is ready to take out of the oven, give yourself enough time to let it set for 10 minutes and settle before serving.
If you want to freeze or refrigerate to serve later, don't bake it first! 

I have found this is a recipe that benefits from having time to experiment with pan sizes.

If  you find your pan is too shallow, it will be just as good with 2 layers instead of three.  I've read that some people look for pans that are 13x9 but deeper than the standard 2 inches.

For those who have the time and patience and don't want a huge, 13x9 pan of lasagna,  I recently began buying disposable aluminum poultry pans, with dimensions of  9 3/8 x 9 3/8 x 2 3/8 and dividing everything above into two pans.  The middle layers of cheese and sauce and veggies may need to be reduced a bit to give you enough ingredients to make two smaller lasagnas or you can anticipate that ahead of time and buy extra of everything.

In the end, lasagna is something that ends up all mushed up on people's plates so I find the aesthetics are secondary, so long as it's yummy!  :)

**For the carnivores: You can replace the veggie layers with cooked Italian sausage.
**Leave out the veggies and its a great cheese lasagna