Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes—my favorite brand is San Marzano for its inherent sweetness, but any brand should be fine
• 1/4 cup of red wine — any variety works, but should be something you’d drink
• ½ teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
•  2 ½ teaspoons of dried oregano
• 1 tin of anchovy filets—it’s important that the anchovies are packed in oil as opposed to water since you want to flavor and richness of the oil to help flavor the sauce. Flat filets are also easier for melting into the oil
• 4-5 medium garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 pound of grape tomatoes—quartered whole tomatoes or cherry tomatoes could work in this dish too, but grape tomatoes are a nice size and roast beautifully in the oven
• 1 pound of cremini mushrooms, halved or quartered depending on size
• 2 small to medium zucchini, cut into half moons
• 2 small to medium yellow squash, cut into half moons
• 1 bell pepper, sliced into strips (any color)
• 1 large onion, chopped roughly
• 1 pound of ricotta cheese—it might be tempting to use low fat here, but use whole milk ricotta—trust me, you’ll taste the difference!
• 1 cup of Parmesan cheese—shredded or grated as long as you’d eat it on your pasta
• 2 large eggs
• 10 oz package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained—Make sure you squeeze as much water out of the spinach as you can
• 1 box of oven ready lasagna noodles
• 1 bag of shredded mozzarella—one of those Italian blends works too
• 1 small ball of fresh mozzarella (optional)
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Toss tomatoes with 1 tablespoon of oil, 1 teaspoon of oregano and salt, and ½ teaspoon of black pepper, and spread on a sheet pan and roast for 15-20 minutes
3. While the tomatoes are roasting, use a second, larger sheet pan for the zucchini, squash, pepper and onion and increase to 2 tablespoons of oil, 1 tablespoon of salt, 2 teaspoons of oregano, and 1 teaspoon of pepper
4. Roast the veggies for 30 minutes, while you prepare the rest of the components for the lasagna (Note: when the veggies come out of the oven, lower the heat to 375 degrees)
5. While the veggies are in the oven, add enough olive oil to a big sauté pan to coat the bottom and heat on medium-high heat
6. Add anchovies to the pan and break them up with a back of a wooden spoon — Don’t skip this step! — even if you don’t like anchovies, the high heat will melt the filets into the oil and it will give needed background and depth to your sauce
7. Once the anchovy is melted, add the garlic and brown for about a minute or two
8. Add the mushrooms—it’s important for mushrooms to be spread out for them to brown evenly. If they’re too crowded in the pan, then they’ll start to steam and turn rubbery
9. Once the mushrooms have cooked, season with a teaspoon of salt, ½ teaspoon of black pepper,½ teaspoon of oregano
10. Add the crushed tomatoes to the pan and stir—you want the seasonings to be evenly spread throughout
11. Reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer until the roasted tomatoes are ready to come out of the oven, and then transfer tomatoes to the sauce
12. Continue to simmer for another 5 minutes
13. While the sauce is finishing up, you can work on the ricotta layer
14. In a large bowl, add ricotta cheese, parmesan, eggs, and spinach, as well as a teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of pepper
15. Whisk all the ingredients together for about 3-4 minutes
16. Time to assemble the layers! In a 9×13 baking dish, spoon a bit of the tomato sauce on the bottom of the dish
17. Add the lasagna noodles to the dish in a single layer all the way across—I shingled a little and also got creative by using one noodle that I cracked to fill in empty crevices
18. The next layer should be some more tomato sauce
19. Next up is a layer of the roasted vegetables
20. After the vegetables should be a layer of the ricotta mixture—don’t skimp on the ricotta!
21. After the ricotta comes the cheese layer—add about ¼ of the bag of mozzarella cheese over the ricotta
22. Repeat the layering another 3 times, and top with a layer of noodles
23. For the final layer, add a thick layer of tomato sauce over the top, followed by remaining cheese and parmesan—for my top layer, I actually like to use some fresh mozzarella since it melts so beautifully and makes for a beautiful presentation
24. (Optional)I place the whole thing onto a larger sheet tray so that if there’s spillage, it doesn’t go all over the oven floor
25. Bake in the oven at 375 degrees, uncovered, for 25-35 minutes
26. Let it cool for at least 5-10 minutes before cutting into it. In fact, lasagna is a great make-ahead dish that you can keep in the fridge for up to 2 days before heating. If you plan to refrigerate, make sure to add an additional 10-12 minutes to cooking time.

Also, this makes for a pretty saucy lasagna, but if you want you can reserve some extra sauce and spoon it over the top of each piece as it’s served, and garnish with some extra parmesan. Now who wouldn’t want a piece of that beauty? Buon Appetito!