Great Vegetarian Lasagna
My younger sister has been a vegetarian for almost a decade now, and while my brain can’t turn off that craving for dead animal flesh, I do feel like knowing how to make great-tasting vegetarian dishes can be beneficial.
Eating vegetarian now and then is good for your health, better for the environment, and is a great way to give any vegetarians in your family something delicious to dive into that isn’t just a raw veggie platter or salad.
Today, I am going to show you a fabulous veggie lasagna that will be so packed full of flavor, you won’t even miss the meat. I’m not going to say that this is the best veggie lasagna in the world, but it is certainly worth making for any vegetarian or carnivore alike.
Most lasagna is made up of three things; pasta, a hearty sauce, and cheese. The pasta and cheese are no-brainers, it’s that sauce that required a bit of creativity and culinary know-how to get right.
There are lots of ways you can build this sauce, but here is what I used along with the tomatoes: onion, carrot, celery, mushrooms, zucchini, and white beans.
(By the way, I am not currently in my kitchen, I am staying at my mom’s house in Washington State. Gorgeous area, by the way.)
The onions, carrots and celery form the classic French mirepoix. You won’t necessarily taste these vegetables in the final lasagna, but what they do is provide a base of flavor for the sauce.
However, I wanted to step it up, so I will be cooking these veggies down to crud, almost caramelizing them, to unlock a depth of flavor. I feel like that’s one trick to vegetarian cooking, it’s figuring out how to build flavor without using meat.
The mushrooms will provide some umami depth, the zucchini will give freshness and extra vitamins, and the beans will provide a bit of protein which, let’s face it, any vegetarian dish needs since there’s no meat.
Also, since it’s me and I wanted my family to feel special, I did make this lasagna with fresh pasta using my own pasta roller that I brought with me from Colorado. However, it’s fine if you want to use dried pasta.
With all of that being said, let’s get down to business!
Veggie Lasagna
Makes 12 servings
For the Sauce:
Olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
8 ounces of mushrooms, finely chopped
2 zucchini, trimmed and finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 large sprigs of rosemary
1 large bunch of fresh basil, stems and all
1/2 cup of dry white wine
2 28-ounce cans of crushed tomatoes
For the Ricotta mixture:
1 28-ounce tub of ricotta cheese
1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs
Salt and pepper
For the Lasagna:
Salt, for cooking water
Olive oil, for coating
1 pound of lasagna pasta sheets
1 1/2 cups of grated mozzarella cheese
Freshly grated parmesan cheese
Step 1: Start making the sauce
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.
Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a large pot over medium-low heat, then add the chopped onion, carrots, celery, and a pinch of salt. The salt will pull the moisture out of the vegetables and allow them to soften faster.
Cook the veggies for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are very soft and lightly browned. Be patient with this step, because this is where lots of flavor is being developed.
Step 2: Add the remaining ingredients to the sauce
Once the veggies are lightly caramelized, add the mushrooms and zucchini and cook until they start to soften.
Add the garlic, rosemary sprigs, and basil and cook for about 30 seconds, then add the white wine, increase the heat to medium, then cook, scraping up the bottom of the pot, until the wine has reduced by half.
Add the tomatoes, bring that to a simmer, then cook for 20-25 minutes, or until the sauce is thickened and you can’t taste any lingering acidity in the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper.
(Normally, I would add a pinch of sugar to the sauce after adding the tomatoes, but with the sweet carrots in there, I figured that wasn’t necessary.)
Step 3: Make the ricotta mixture
In a medium bowl, mix together the ricotta, parmesan, and eggs until fully combined. Season generously with salt and pepper, then set aside.
Step 4: Cook the pasta
Lower the pasta sheets into the boiling water and cook according to the directions on the package for al dente.
Drain, then lay the pasta in an even layer onto kitchen towels.
Step 5: Assemble the lasagna
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9x13 baking dish with olive oil.
Remove the rosemary and basil sprigs from the sauce. If there are some leaves of either herb still in there, then leave them there.
Lay a layer of pasta onto the bottom of the oiled pan, and follow that with a layer of sauce, a layer of ricotta, and a sprinkle of the grated mozzarella.
Repeat this step with another layer of pasta, sauce, ricotta, and mozzarella, then one last layer of pasta and sauce, And top with the remaining mozzarella and a generous grating of parmesan.
(By the way, any sauce that you have left over can easily be saved and tossed with your favorite pasta.)
Step 6: Bake the Lasagna
Cover the lasagna with foil, then bake for 15 minutes with the foil on, then carefully remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes, or until the cheese on top is bubbly and lightly golden. If you want to, switch on the broiler to allow the cheese on top to get even more golden.
Allow the lasagna to cool for a few minutes after baking then slice into 12 pieces and serve!
Honestly, if this amazing veggie lasagna does not convince you to become vegetarian for a night, then I don’t know what will.
