World’s Greatest Vegetable Lasagne

Serves 4-6

Preparation Time 40 mins approx

Cooking time 1 hr 15 mins approx

 

 

 

This is a GUEST RECIPE taken from Green Kitchen Stories, which in my view is one of the best vegetarian online cookery sites.  I see that this Lasagna With Grilled Vegetables is a variation taken from other recipes and I have made changes to substitute Kale with Fresh Spinach.  This is a fairly complex dish and takes time to prepare, but the results are worth it.

 

 

Ingredients

 

Tomato sauce (scroll down for recipe)
1 package of whole wheat (or gluten free) lasagna noodles (I used Spelt Lasagne sheets)
Lemon-ricotta (scroll down for recipe)
Grilled vegetables (scroll down for recipe)
1 package of mozzarella cheese (250 g)
 

Tomato sauce (Arrabiata)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 medium size onion (finely chopped)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 fresh chili (medium strong, finely chopped or a good pinch of chilli powder (optional)
25-30 kalamata olives (pitted)
2 tbsp capers (drained)
4 large beef tomatoes (cut in quarters)
2 cans plum tomatoes
half a pot fresh basil
salt & pepper

 

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot.
    

2. Add onion, garlic, and chili and saute  for 2-3 minutes.
    

3. Add olives, capers and fresh tomatoes and cook it a couple of minutes more before adding the rest of the ingredients.
    

4. Cook for 10 minutes, lower the heat and let it simmer for half an hour more under a lid.

 

 

Grilled Vegetables
2 tbsp olive oil
salt
2 zucchini (sliced) (Courgettes)
1 eggplant (sliced)
300 g mushrooms,
300 g fresh spinach
2 cloves garlic

 

1. Dash the zucchini and eggplant with olive oil and salt and grill them in the oven at 400°F for about 10 minutes.
    

2. Stir fry the mushrooms and the kale/spinach in a pan for 5 minutes with olive oil, salt and garlic. (If using Spinach, cook the mushrooms first and add the Spinach for just one or two minutes to wilt).
   You could also grill the zucchini and eggplant in a broiler pan, the important thing is that the vegetables release some of their moist before putting them in the lasagna.

 

Lemon- Ricotta
500 g ricotta cheese
1 organic mediun size lemon (juice & zest)
a pinch of sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

 

Place ricotta cheese in a bowl, grate the lemon zest and squeeze the lemon, add zest and juice to the bowl.   Add seasoning and mix it together.   (I used a potato masher to do this).

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
    

2. Start with a thin layer of tomato sauce, cover with a layer of lasagna noodles, a layer of lemon-ricotta, a layer of grilled vegetables, a layer of spinach and a layer of tomato sauce.   
    

3. Repeat 2-3 times, top the last layer with the rest of the vegetables, the tomato sauce, the lemon-ricotta and the grated mozarella cheese.   
    

4. Bake it in the oven for 40-50 minutes.