Vegetable Lasagna

This is a vegetarian lasagna worth making and eating tonight! The lasagna's step of roasting the vegetables with copious amounts of garlic really brings out everything wonderful about eggplant and summer squash. The original Cook's Illustrated recipe leaves out the traditional layer of creamy ricotta—I put it back in because it just adds so much. This lasagna was supposed to have 3 layers of traditional noodles, however, I ran out of them. I substituted penne in the top layer, and I must say, the crunchy, nutty taste of it was intoxicating—like eating a slice of baked ziti (mmm...baked ziti). This makes 8 slices in a deep lasagna dish.


Ingredients

1 zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 crookneck yellow squash, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3 tablespoons olive oil
6 large garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper
1 (28 ounce) jar marinara sauce
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 (15 ounce) container part-skim ricotta
1 cup chopped fresh spinach
1 large egg
4 cups part-skim mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 teaspoons dried basil
12 whole wheat lasagna noodles (or 8 lasagna noodles and 1/3 pound penne)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss zucchini, eggplant, squash, oil, 4 minced cloves garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and spread onto a rimmed baking sheet. Roast until vegetables are golden brown, about 35 minutes, stirring halfway through roasting. Set aside.

While vegetables roast, combine in a large bowl, marinara, remaining garlic, and red pepper. In a medium-sized bowl combine ricotta, egg, 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, 1/2 cup mozzarella, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, dash of salt.

In the lasagna dish, set the lasagna noodles in the bottom. Pour 2 inches of boiling water over them (make sure they don't stick). Place the dish in the oven for the last 8 minutes of the vegetables roasting. When they are softened, place them to dry on a plate and dry the lasagna dish.

Spread 1/2 cup sauce evenly over the bottom of the dish, arrange 4 noodles in a flat layer on the sauce. Spread 1/2 the vegetables on the noodles. Spoon 1/2 cup sauce on vegetables and sprinkle 3/4 cup mozzarella. Layer 4 noodles. Make an even layer of ricotta on noodles. Spoon the rest of the vegetables on the ricotta. Spoon some sauce. Add the final layer of noodles and spoon sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan on top. Sprinkle with some dried basil. Cover dish tightly with oil-sprayed foil. Lower the oven temperature to 375°F. Place the dish in the oven for 25 minutes, rotating dish halfway through the time. Remove foil and continue to bake for 15 minutes until the top is spotty brown. Cool lasagna 15 minutes before serving.