Veggie Lasagna

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For those of you who are participating in Lent this year, I thought I would give you a recipe you can try on Friday.  I never knew that Catholics who participate in Lent don’t eat meat on Fridays between Ash Wednesday and Easter.  My friend Toni is doing this and I told her I would post one of my favorite meatless meals for her to try.

Believe it or not this is one of my most requested recipes. People love it! I love it! It is one of those recipes that is so simple it’s a little embarrassing to give out the recipe. No bells and whistles here, just basic, normal ingredients that were made for each other. The best news is, it is so easy to make. YOU DON”T HAVE TO PRE-BOIL THE NOODLES.  How happy does that make me – MUCH!  My sister-in-law Heidi is the smarty pants that let me in on this little secret – as long as the noodles are touching enough sauce they will cook and you don’t have to boil them.  Talk about life changing moments.  The other beautiful thing about this simple meal idea is that you can change it up to fit your families tastes.  The following recipe is how my familia likes it.

Maria’s Veggie Lasagna

1 can spaghetti sauce (I like Hunts with mushroom)

1 can diced tomatoes

2-3 TBSP olive oil

2 small zucchini, halved and sliced

1/4 cup chopped onion

1-2 cloves garlic (crushed)

1/4 tsp Thyme

1/4 tsp Oregano (if you don’t have thyme and oregano you can substitute 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning)

2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp lemon juice (optional)

1 16 oz cottage cheese

1 egg

2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese

2 Tbsp dried parsley

1 can olives (sliced)

1 can mushrooms (or fresh mushrooms, sliced and sauteed)

2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated

Lasagna noodles

In a large skillet heat olive oil and saute zucchini for 2-3 minutes.  Add onion and garlic and saute until onion is tender.  Add Spaghetti sauce, tomatoes, thyme, oregano, sugar and lemon juice.  Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  In the mean time….Crack egg into cottage cheese.  Add Parmesan cheese and dried parsley.  Mix well and set aside.  When sauce mixture is done simmering pour half of it into a 9×13 pan.  Put noodles over the sauce (you will need to break some to make them fit and to make sure you cover the entire surface).  Dump cottage cheese mixture over the dry noodles.  Spread evenly and then sprinkle with the mushrooms and sliced olives.  Cover with another layer of dry noodles and then pour remaining sauce over the noodles.  Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350° for 1 hour.  Remove foil and sprinkle with cheese for the last five minutes.  You can also sprinkle with dried parsley for a garnish.  Let stand for 10-15 minutes before serving.

We like to serve it with breadsticks and salad.  Speaking of salad….my friend Toni makes the BEST Italian salad dressing ever.  She let me in on her secret.  She uses the Good Seasoning packet and follows the recipe on the back, except she uses ‘Seasoned Rice Vinegar’ instead of regular vinegar and then doesn’t add quite as much oil as it calls for.

I seriously have to physically stop myself form straight up drinking this stuff plain.  I can neither confirm or deny that I may or may not have been dipping cheesy croutons in it for a snack last night.  Who does that?  Anywho friends, I hope you are having a great Tuesday and I promise you it will only get better if you have this for dinner, or….. you can save it for Friday night.