Vegetable Lasagna

The best veg lasagna I’ve had! Cooking the squash and eggplant with fresh thyme and garlic until browned lends loads of flavor, along with layers of minced kalamata olives, and a cream sauce of cottage cheese, heavy cream, grated parmesan and garlic with a cornstarch thickener. Canned crushed tomatoes, basil, garlic and red pepper flakes make up the no-cook sauce. It takes a bit of time to prepare, but you’ll be well rewarded. Serves 8.

Recipe

12 no-boil lasagna noodles
2 T. chopped fresh basil, for garnish

Tomato Sauce:
(1) 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
1/4 c. minced fresh basil leaves
2 T. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, pressed (about 2 tsp.)
1 tsp. Kosher salt
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Cream Sauce:
8-oz. whole milk (or 4%) cottage cheese (about 1 c.)
1 c. heavy cream
4 oz. Parmesan, grated (about 2 c.)
2 garlic cloves, pressed (about 2 tsp.)
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Vegetable Filling:
1 eggplant, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 lb. zucchini (about 2), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 lb. yellow squash (about 2), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
5 T. + 1 tsp. olive oil
4 garlic cloves, pressed (about 4 tsp.)
1 T. fresh thyme leaves, minced
12 oz. baby spinach
1/2 c. pitted kalamata olives, minced
12 oz. whole-milk mozzarella, shredded (about 3 c.)

For the Tomato Sauce: Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

For the Cream Sauce: Whisk all the ingredients together in a separate bowl and set aside.

For the Filling: Preheat oven to 400-degrees. Put the chopped eggplant on a sheet pan that has been sprayed lightly with oil and toss with 1 tsp. Kosher salt. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and press with paper towels to remove some moisture. Cool slightly, then add to a bowl with the prepared zucchini and yellow squash.

Combine 1 T. olive oil, the 4 pressed garlic cloves and minced thyme leaves in a small bowl. Heat 2 T. oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add half the eggplant/squash mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Clear center of the skillet and add half the garlic mixture and cook, mashing with a spatula, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir the garlic mixture into the vegetables and transfer to a medium bowl. Repeat with the remaining eggplant/squash mixture, 2 T. more oil and the remaining garlic mixture. Transfer to the bowl.

Heat 1 tsp. oil in the now empty skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the spinach and cook, stirring frequently, until wilted, about 3 minutes. Transfer the spinach to a paper towel-lined plate and drain for 2 minutes. Stir into the eggplant mixture.

To Assemble & Bake: Preheat oven to 375-degrees.

Grease a 13x9-inch baking dish. Spread 1 c. of the tomato sauce evenly over the bottom of the dish. Arrange 4 noodles on top of the sauce. Spread half of the vegetable mixture over the noodles, followed by half of the olives. Spoon half of the cream sauce over the top and sprinkle with 1 c. of the mozzarella. — Repeat the layering with 4 more lasagna noodles, 1 c. more tomato sauce, remaining vegetables, remaining olives, remaining cream sauce and 1 c. more mozzarella. — For the final layer, arrange the remaining 4 noodles on top and cover completely with the remaining tomato sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 c. mozzarella.

Cover the dish tightly with foil that has been sprayed with vegetable oil spray (so it doesn’t stick to top of lasagna) and bake for 55 minutes. The original recipe called for baking 35 minutes, but I found the lasagna noodles were still too hard, so I increased the baking time with great results.

Remove the foil and let cool for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with 2 T. chopped fresh basil leaves.