Tag Archives: lasagna

Spring/Summer Zucchini Lasagna

I came across this recipe for spring greens zucchini lasagna in Experience L!fe magazine. I finally had a chance to try it last night. It came out pretty good and I was particularly excited about the roasted carrot sauce instead of the usual tomato sauce. Let me know what you think, here are my adaptations.

carrots

What you need:

  • 4 large, whole carrots, washed and trimmed
  • 1 red pepper
  • 5 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices
  • Salt and black pepper (I used pink salt and peppercorns)
  • 1 bag power greens (baby spinach, baby red chard, baby kale)
  • 11/2 cups ricotta cheese
  • 4 cloves garlic, (1 pressed 3 roasted)
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 2 cups vegetable stock
  • 2 tbs. chopped fresh dill
  • 1/4 cup shredded quattro formaggio cheese (or any shredded cheese you like)
  • 8 lasagna noodles (optional)

zucchini lasagna

What you do for sauce:

Preheat oven to 375.

Roast carrots, red pepper and 3 cloves of garlic for 25 minutes or until tender.

Mix carrots, pepper, garlic and fresh dill in blender with 2 cups of vegetable stock and salt and pepper to taste.

*Note: I would have preferred more sauce, next time I will do 6-8 carrots and 3 cups of stock

cooked zucchini

What to do:

While carrots are roasting slice zucchinis lengthwise.

Mix ricotta cheese with egg, garlic, lemon zest and salt and pepper

Pour a layer of sauce at the bottom of a 9×12 pan and put down a layer of zucchini

Pour half of ricotta over first layer. Add half of your greens.

Put a second layer of zucchini, a layer of noodles (optional) and a layer of sauce

Pour half of ricotta and rest of greens.

Layer of zucchini and noodles. Pour rest of sauce and sprinkle with cheese.

Bake at 350 covered for 35-45 minutes and uncovered for 10-15 or until cheese is melted.

 

***The original recipe roasted all the veggies first before making the lasagna. If it was early spring I would probably roast everything because the weather is still cooler or more back and forth and the roasting adds a warming element to the recipe. Because it was in the 80s yesterday and we are closer to summer than spring now I did not roast the veggies except for the sauce so that it is not quite as warming in nature. Also it was less time with an oven on! 🙂

 

 

Artichoke Red Chard Lasagna

This is my go to recipe when the garden starts overflowing with red chard. I’ve converted quite a few people to love red chard and even the idea of a veggie lasagna. Today with the snow coming down chard from the garden sounds really nice but I made mine with spinach instead bought from the store. 🙁 This weather is such a tease!

What you need: 

lasagna noodles (or raw sliced eggplant)

marinara sauce (if you don’t have homemade sauce my favorite is Trader Joe’s garlic marinara sauce)

shredded cheese (Trader Joe’s quattro formaggio is best)

fresh red chard (or spinach or both!) If you are using bagged greens I usually use 2 bags 1 for each layer as it will cook down

artichoke hearts (fresh is best)

If you’ve never cooked fresh artichokes before read this  

Line bottom of 9×13 pan with a thin layer of sauce.

Layer noodles or eggplant “noodles”. sprinkle cheese lightly and half of red chard.

Add another layer of noodles. Pour sauce over noodles.

Layer the rest of red chard and all of artichokes. Sprinkle lightly with cheese.

Add another layer of noodles. Pour rest of the sauce over noodles and sprinkle with cheese. ( I find I like to use less cheese than a regular lasagna and it helps to bring out the other flavors)

Bake at 375 for 45 minutes covered. Bake addition 15 minutes uncovered or until cheese is bubbly.

We are serving with some garlic bread and arugula salad tonight. Enjoy!