Recipe: Vegetable Lasagna

This recipe is from Ambler Patch editor and the Montgomery County Patch team's resident chef, Leann Pettit. For a smorgasbord of her recipes, click here.

I love the Stouffer’s Vegetable Lasagna. However, I can only ever find it in the individual size or in the feeds-an-army family size. My solution? Make my own. Not only is it healthier that a frozen dinner, I can control what is in it and how much is left over.

I love me some veggies, so I make sure all my favorites are represented and in abundance, with plenty of cheesy goodness to boot. I’m also a pretty big fan of no boil lasagna noodles – just add them right out of the box into the baking dish and they cook while in the oven. No boiling, then separating (and, inevitably breaking) them.

This recipe makes a good-sized meal for about four adults (or two adults and two very hungry little ones). If you need more, though, its easy to make a bigger dish by using larger heads of broccoli and a bigger pepper and onion and more noodles.

If you don’t have the time or patience to chop all these veggies, I have two solutions: 1) many grocers offer pre-chopped vegetables and fruits in the produce departments, which are perfect for this, or 2) grab their frozen brethren, which will also be pre-chopped for you and last longer if you want to plan your meals out in advance.

You can find all of these ingredients at Giant, Super Fresh or Genuardi's.

Ingredients

• 1 small head of broccoli, chopped
• 1 small green or red pepper, diced
• 1 medium carrot, chopped
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 can condensed broccoli cheese soup
• ½ cup milk
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 no boil lasagna noodles
• 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Place broccoli, pepper, carrot and onion in a deep saucepan and cover with water. Heat to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Drain.
3. In a small bowl, mix soup, milk and Parmesan cheese.
4. Spread thin layer of soup mixture on the bottom of an 8x8x2 baking dish, and some of the vegetable mixture. Top with 2 lasagna noodles, ½ the remaining soup mixture, ¾ cup mozzarella cheese, and ½ of the remaining vegetable mixture. Repeat layers. Topping with mozzarella cheese.
5. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 400 for 35 minutes.
6. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.