Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

This Roasted Vegetable Lasagna is the vegetarian version of classic lasagna. You won't miss the meat in this scrumptious casserole, packed with roasted carrots, bell peppers, onions and broccoli, and layered with thick rich tomato sauce and three cheeses.

I'm a huge fan of meaty lasagna but it's also great to have a vegetarian lasagna recipe in the repertoire, one with maximum veggies, and maximum deliciousness.

Are there any foods you love so much that you eat them until your stomach hurts and you can barely breathe? Lasagna is that for me. It's got to be great lasagna - the kind with an excellent tomato sauce and high quality ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan. Once the cheeses melt into the sauce and meld with tender noodles and whatever meats or vegetables are layered in, there's nothing more comforting, delicious, or irresistible.

How to make Roasted Vegetable Lasagna:

Roasting is one of the best things you can do to vegetables to make them shine. When carrots, onions and red peppers are tossed with a little olive oil and salt, and roasted in the oven for a half hour or so, they soften, sweeten and caramelize around the edges, and they're absolutely delicious in lasagna.

1. Toss onions, carrots and red bell peppers with oil and salt, and roast the vegetables in the oven for 40 minutes.
2.  While the vegetables are roasting, make the sauce. Sauté garlic and red pepper flakes in olive oil for a minute or so and pour in canned plum tomatoes, tomato paste, dried basil and salt. Simmer sauce for 30 minutes and then puree with an immersion blender or in a food processor or blender. Add shaved broccoli and roasted veggies to the sauce and stir through.
3. While the sauce simmers, cook the lasagna noodles. Boil them in salted water, drain them in a colander, run cool water over them, lay them out on a sheet pan.
4. Assemble and Bake the Lasagna: Arrange 3 layers in a casserole dish: noodles, sauce, cheese, noodles, sauce, cheese, noodles, sauce, cheese. Cover the casserole with foil and bake for 45 minutes, until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese is melted.
5. Let the lasagna rest for 15-20 minutes. Slice and serve. 

Special Veggie-Packed Tomato Sauce

Shaved broccoli adds "meatiness" to vegetarian tomato sauce.  Use a sharp knife to thinly slice the broccoli crowns so they end up as broccoli crumbles. I use this technique often when making a vegetarian tomato sauce, and I just love it!

After the sauce is ready, stir the shaved broccoli in and assemble the lasagna. Once it's baked, the broccoli will be perfectly cooked and give the sauce a great, meaty texture. Plus, you get the healthy benefits of adding a superfood to your sauce, infusing your roasted vegetable lasagna with extra protein, fiber and vitamins.

When I make lasagna I prefer the old fashioned noodles that you boil. It's an old habit and does require some extra work. Feel free to use no-boil noodles if you prefer. Assemble the lasagna by layering noodles, sauce, cheeses....

Noodle, sauce, cheeses...

Cover the casserole with a double layer of foil and bake for 40 minutes.

Uncover and bake 15-20 minutes longer until the sauce is bubbling and the cheeses are melted.

Other Italian recipe to try:

• No Fry Eggplant Parmesan
  A healthier and totally delicious recipe for eggplant parm. The eggplant rounds are breaded and baked, and layered with thick rich tomato sauce and cheese, and topped with spinach.
• No Noodle Eggplant Lasagna
  This gluten-free vegetarian casserole is a cross between eggplant parm and lasagna but it's way healthier and so delicious!
• Eggplant parmesan stacks
  A festive, architectural redesign of classic comforting eggplant parmesan, only healthier because the eggplant is baked.
• Chicken Parmesan
  Boneless chicken cutlets, coated with crisp breadcrumbs, covered with velvety rich tomato sauce and melted cheese.

Here's the roasted vegetable lasagna recipe. If you make this I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know how what you think! 

Recipe

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

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4.8 from 5 reviews

• Author: Lisa
• Total Time: 2 hours 20 mins
• Yield: 8 - 10 1x

Print Recipe

Description

A vegetarian version of classic lasagna with roasted vegetables, delicious homemade tomato sauce and three cheeses.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Equipment: You'll need a deep dish 9"x13" casserole or something comparable in volume.

• 1 1-pound box of lasagna noodles (I use noodles that need to be boiled but no-boil noodles will work well too)
• Kosher salt
• ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided

For The Roasted Veggies:

• 1 pound of carrots peeled and sliced into ¼-inch rounds
• 2 red bell peppers, seeds and ribs removed, cut into 1-inch dice
• 2 medium yellow onions, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice

For The Tomato Sauce:

• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoons minced garlic (2 large cloves)
• 1 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 28-ounce cans good quality Italian plum tomatoes (I recommend San Marzano or Organic)
• 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
• ½ cup water
• 1½ teaspoons dried basil
• 3-4 cups of shaved broccoli crowns (from 1 or 2 crowns). To shave broccoli, slice the crowns very thinly into small florets and crumbles.

For Assembling The Lasagne:

• 1 pound of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 pound of ricotta cheese (reduced fat is fine)
• 2 ounces grated Parmesan cheese - about ⅔ cup - plus more for sprinkling on top (I recommend Parmigiana Reggiano)

Optional Garnish: Lots of chopped fresh basil leaves (adds great flavor!)

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Instructions

1. Roast the Vegetables: Preheat oven to 425ºF. In a large bowl, toss vegetables with 3 tablespoons olive oil and 1 teaspoon salt. Spread out on a rimmed baking sheet and roast in the center of the oven for 25 minutes. Toss and return to the oven for 10-15 minutes longer, or until onions are starting to brown.
2. Make the Sauce: While the veggies are roasting, heat 3 tablespoons oil with garlic and red pepper flakes, in a large cooking pot or dutch oven over medium heat. When the garlic starts to sizzle, let it cook, stirring constantly, for 30-45 seconds (don't let it brown). Pour in the tomatoes, tomato paste, water, basil and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to simmer and cook, partially covered, for 30 minutes. Puree the sauce with an immersion blender or in a food processor or blender, in batches. Stir in shaved broccoli and roasted veggies.
3. Cook the Noodles: While the sauce is cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 teaspoon of salt to the water. Lower the lasagna noodles into the pot one at a time so they're less likely to stick together. Cook until al dente, per package instructions, stirring often with a wooden spoon to separate noodles. Drain noodles, run some cool water over them, and lay them out on a sheet pan. Cover with a damp dish towel.
4. Assemble The Lasagna: Preheat the oven to 375ºF and set the oven rack in the center position. Spread a little sauce over the bottom of the casserole dish. Arrange a layer of 4-5 noodles on top. Cover with ⅓ of the sauce. Sprinkle on ⅓ of the mozzarella. Spoon ½ of the ricotta around evenly, in little blobs. Sprinkle on ⅓ of the parmigiana cheese. Repeat with a second layer of noodles, half the remaining sauce, half the remaining mozzarella, the rest of the ricotta, half of the remaining parmigiana. Add the final layer of noodles, the rest of the sauce, the rest of the mozzarella and parmigiana.
5. Cover the casserole tightly with a double layer of foil but tent it a bit so the foil doesn't touch the top layer of cheese. Cook for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for 10-15 minutes more, until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese is melted. Let the lasagna rest for 15-20 minutes. Slice and serve. Sprinkle with fresh basil, if you like.

• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 2 hours
• Category: Main Dish
• Method: Bake
• Cuisine: Italian