If the idea of making homemade lasagna raises your stress level, you’re not alone. It’s an intimidating dish, with lots of steps and lots of layers—so many layers.
Well, we’re here to tell you that homemade lasagna is in your future (sans stress). We remixed the classic recipe with a couple of hacks to make it equally delicious but with half the headache. The key to any good dish is quality ingredients, so that’s what we recommend you use: Good cheese, fresh veggies and a quality bottle of marinara (no, you won’t be making that yourself!). We’ve also featured the greatest gift to weeknight meals: oven-ready lasagna noodles, which go straight from the box into your lasagna and—in our opinion—taste just as good. This dish is easy and, dare we say, fun to assemble. Customize your veggie layers with anything left over from your farmers’ market haul. It’s a great way to use up any odds and ends in your fridge.
RECIPE:
Weeknight Vegetable Lasagna
INGREDIENTS
9 sheets oven-ready lasagna sheets
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 large egg
2 cups mozarella, shredded
1 cup Parmesan, shredded
1 24oz. jar marinara sauce
8 oz ricotta cheese
15 oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained of water
8 oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 large zucchini, sliced
1 large yellow squash, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, add ricotta and spinach. Mix and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the egg and stir together. Note: Before you add the spinach, make sure you’ve squeezed out as much water as possible.
- Into another bowl, add mozzarella cheese and parmesan. Mix.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add butter and oil. Add in garlic and shallot and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add in the rest of the veggies and cook down until the liquid has been removed, about 9-10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. If there is still a lot of liquid at the bottom of the pan, line a sheet pan with paper towels and spread out your mixture to drain some of the excess water.
- Use a 9 x 13 baking dish, preferably non-stick. Pour 1 cup of sauce into the bottom of the dish and top with three sheets of lasagna noodles. Top with another 1/2 cup of sauce and follow with half of your veggie mixture. Follow with half ricotta mix and top that with 1 cup mozzarella/parmesan cheese mixture.
- Start the next layer by laying two more lasagna noodles down and top with 1/2 cup sauce and remaining veggies. Follow with the remaining ricotta, then another 1 cup of mozzarella/parmesan mixture. Top with remaining lasagna noodles for the final layer and add the remaining sauce. Top with remaining mozzarella/parmesan cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 50-60 minutes until cooked through. If you’re not using nonstick foil, either cover loosely or place a piece of parchment between the lasagna and the foil. Take off the foil and broil the top for an additional 2 minutes for a bubbly crust! Allow resting for 15 minutes before serving.
