Cloudy / 54° F
Roasted Vegetable Lasagna [UPDATED]
Published 12:49pm Monday, March 12, 2012 Updated 12:49pm Monday, March 12, 2012
I had to make a pan of lasagna for a youth church dinner recently, and was trying to think of a lower calorie and more creative take on lasagna. And I knew that we’d be serving some vegetarians, as well! I came up with this recipe after pulling ideas from a bunch of different cookbooks and online recipes.
Even meat eaters loved this lasagna – I hope you will, too!
Roasted Vegetable Lasagna
Serves 10-12
Ingredients:
For lasagna:
3 colored peppers (red, yellow, orange) cut into 1 inch strips
2 small zuchinni (yellow or green) sliced into thin rounds
1 bag fresh spinach
Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
1 package lasagna noodles*
* I would not recommend using no bake noodles in this dish
1 15oz container low fat or fat free ricotta cheese
2 cups fat free cottage cheese
6 oz reduced fat mozzarella cheese
½ cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp basil
1 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp salt
For béchamel sauce:
2 tbls butter
2 tbls flour
2 cups skim milk
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Lay peppers and zuchinni in one layer on sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and lightly salt and pepper. Bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly brown.
Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions, drain, separate and cool slightly.
In a large bowl, stir together the ricotta, cottage, parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, garlic salt, basil, salt and pepper.
Make béchamel sauce. Melt butter in a skillet, add in flour and using a whisk blend together. Let them cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Add in milk and spices, and stir constantly until mixture becomes thick and almost to boil. Remove from heat and stir in parmesan cheese.
Spray lasagna pan or deep 9 X 13 casserole with non-stick spray. Put one layer of noodles on bottom, they can overlap. Spread on half of the cheese mixture. Top with half of the roasted vegetables. Put 1/3 bag of spinach on top. Top with another layer of noodles. Press down to compact layer; then put on remaining cheese mixture; roasted veggies and 1/3 bag of spinach.
Top with another layer of noodles and press to compact. Carefully pour béchamel sauce on top. Cover with foil and bake in 350 degree oven for 50 minutes, or until bubbly hot.
