Vegetable Lasagne

I actually started with the recipe from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, but this ended up being more like the vegetarian lasagne Mom made from the Pleasures of Cooking. Except that recipe had at least 3 pounds of cheese in it. I went for more vegetables than cheese, and I think it worked out well. Feel free to play around with the vegetables.

Vegetable Lasagne

1 T. olive oil

1 large onion, diced

1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced

1 lb. carrots, shredded

Salt, pepper, Italian seasoning or your favorite dried herbs

1/2 c. red wine

1 large can tomato purée

8 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed

9 lasagne noodles (I used the no-cook kind)

8 oz. mozzarella, grated

2 oz. Parmesan, grated

8 oz. ricotta

1/4 c. chopped basil

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion until translucent. Add the carrots and mushrooms and sauté until the mushrooms have started to give off liquid. Season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Pour in the wine, scrape up the bottom, and let cook down for a few minutes. Add the tomato puree (and about a cup of water if you're using the no-cook noodles) and let simmer for 15-20 minutes.

In the meantime, heat the oven to 400. Cook your lasagne noodles if you're using the regular kind. Mix together the mozzarella and Parmesan; mix the ricotta and basil and season with some salt and pepper. Grease a deep 9-inch square pan.

Layer up the lasagne: one-fourth of the tomato sauce, three noodles, one-third of the mozzarella mixture, one-half of the ricotta mixture, noodles, tomato sauce, cheese, remaining ricotta, noodles, tomato sauce, last of the mozzarella. Put in the oven (it's not a bad idea to put it on a foil-lined baking sheet first to catch drips) and bake for 30 minutes, until bubbling. Let rest a few minutes, then cut and serve. Feel virtuous about how healthy your lasagne is.