Cheesy Vegetable Lasagna

Lest you think I dropped off of the face of the Earth or stopped cooking, don't worry, I didn't! Earlier this month, I was trying to decide what to do with all of my veggies and stumbled across this recipe and made a few modifications. Since I'm borderline vegetarian at times, I loved it. My husband thought it was ok until he had some leftovers the next day and then he thought it was really good! It reheated REALLY well. Next time I think I'll add more tomatoes because they really added a nice flavor. Yum!

Original recipe, here.

Prep Time: 35 min
Cook Time: 45 min
Ready In: 1 hour, 20 min

Ingredients:

• 12 lasagna noodles
• 2 Tb olive oil
• 2 heads fresh broccoli, chopped (I think I only used one since it was big - I also used a food processor)
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced (I used a food processor for this too)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 green bell peppers, chopped
• 2 small zucchini, sliced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cups milk
• 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, divided
• salt, to taste
  
• pepper, to taste
• garlic powder, to taste
  
• basil, to taste
• oregano, to taste
• crushed red pepper, to taste
  
• 2-3 cups of fresh spinach (the recipe called for frozen, but I used fresh and just guessed how much to use.)
• 1 (8oz) container small curd cottage cheese
• 24 oz ricotta cheese (I used less ricotta and more cottage cheese, since it is cheaper. Even then, I think I used less cheese overall and it was still plenty.)
• 2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided (I don't think I used this much. I just kind of guessed and used what I had on hand. I did use some mozzarella and some Italian blend, including Parmesan, but it was all kind of guesstimated).
• 1 tomato, sliced (I added this per one of the suggestions and in the future would probably add more tomatoes and include them between the layers.)
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish. (I used a foil-lined stoneware casserole dish that I had. This makes a really big lasagna, so I'm not sure a regular 9x13 would be large enough.)
   
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add lasagna noodles and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
3. Heat 1/2 of the oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot add broccoli, carrots, onions, bell peppers, and 3 cloves of garlic. Heavily season veggies with basil, oregano, salt (several large pinches), pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes. Saute for 7 minutes; set aside.
4. Heat remaining 1/2 of the oil and add zucchini with remaining 2 cloves of garlic. Season the same way as the other veggies, saute, and then set aside.
   
5. Place flour in a medium saucepan and gradually whisk in milk until well blended. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook 5 minutes, or until thick, stirring constantly. Stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, and garlic powder (to taste) [can also add a little butter]; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in spinach. Reserve 1/2 cup spinach mixture. In a small bowl combine cottage and ricotta cheeses; stir well.
6. Spread about 1/2 cup of spinach mixture in the bottom of the prepared pan. Layer noodles, ricotta mixture, vegetables, spinach mixture and 2 cups mozzarella cheese, ending with noodles. Top with reserved spinach mixture, tomatoes, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.
   
7. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. Cool for approximately 10 minutes before serving.

Serves: 12