Best Meat Veggie Lasagna Recipes

I-CAN'T-BELIEVE-IT'S-NOT-MEAT! VEGGIE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Wash and chop all vegetables. Heat olive oil in large saucepan and saute all vegetables until eggplant is cooked through. Add sauce and simmer while preparing rest of components. Boil noodles according to package directions, adding a teaspoon of olive oil to the cooking water to prevent sticking. Mix cottage cheese, beaten eggs, basil, spinach and Parmesan cheese in medium bowl. Layer: 1/3 of sauce, 1/2 of cottage cheese mixture, 1/2 of grated cheese, and 3 noodles. Repeat layers. Top with remaining sauce and any remaining grated cheese, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 F for approximately 40 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

MEAT & VEGGIE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Mince onion, slice carrots and mushrooms, crush garlic cloves. In a large sauce pan at medium heat, sautee the minced onion and crushed whole garlic cloves in 1 tablespoon butter until garlic begins to brown, ca. 3 mins. Add carrots and mushrooms and sautee ca. 5 mins. Salt and pepper ground beef, add to the sauteed vegetables. Stir well to break up larger clumps of ground beef. Cook at medium heat until beef is slightly brown, ca. 5 mins. Remove stems from canned tomatoes and add to veggie meat mix, add tomato juice from the canned tomatoes. Fill the empty can with water and add to mix. Add tomato paste, stir well and add bay leaves. Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce heat until the sugo is simmering, cover. Stirring occasionally, let the sugo simmer for ca. 1 hour. Add some water if necessary. After ca. 1 hour, begin to prepare the Bechamel sauce. In a medium sauce pan at medium heat, melt butter and whisk in flour until the base is smooth. Heat for ca. 3 minutes, but be careful not to let the mix burn. Add warm milk and whisk continuously until sauce thickens. This can take up to 15 mins. The sauce may simmer, but do not let it boil. Once the sauce is viscous, add nutmeg, garlic, salt & pepper. Set Bechamel aside. Remove bay leaves and whole garlic cloves from sugo. Add heavy cream, oregano, basil and remaining tablespoon of butter. Remove from heat. Preheat oven to 375°F. First spread a layer of sugo in the baking dish. Arrange a layer of lasagna pasta sheets to cover the sugo. Pour Bechamel on top of the lasagna sheets and sprinkle with shredded Mozarella. Add lasagna sheets to cover and top with sugo. The order is: Sugo, lasagna, Bechamel & Mozzarella, lasagna, sugo,.. repeat until dish is full. The bottom layer should be sugo, the top layer should be Bechamel. Generously sprinkle with Parmesan, and cover with tin foil (papillote). Bake lasagna for 40 minutes, remove tin foil, and bake for another 20 minutes.

VEGGIE (AND MEAT!) LASAGNA

Steps:

• 1. Slice zucchini lengthwise into thin "lasagna style" noodles. Layer between paper towels, blot until moisture is absorbed. Leave on paper towels until needed.
• 2. Add to cooked and drained ground chuck: both cans of drained, diced tomatoes, diced onion, sliced mushrooms and sliced olives. Cook until heated thoroughly and any excess liquid is evaporated. (You want the sauce to be really thick - too much liquid will cause the lasagna to fall apart.) You'll be dividing the sauce into three portions when you assemble lasagna.
• 3. Squeeze spinach in cheesecloth or paper towels until it's fairly dry. You'll need to divide this into two portions prior to assembly.
• 4. Place egg, ricotta, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese in medium bowl and stir until well mixed. This mixture will be divided into two portions for assembly.
• 5. TO ASSEMBLE: In a greased 9x13 pan, place a thin layer of meat/veggie sauce (doesn't have to cover entire bottom.) Layer zucchini noodles next, making sure that noodles reach all sides of pan. Place about half of the spinach on top of the zucchini (I just drop it by small spoonfuls randomly so there will be some in every piece.) Using a tablespoon, place half of cheese mixture randomly across top, spreading as best you can so top is covered.) Repeat layers again - sauce, zucchini, spinach, and cheese mixture. Next layer is remainder of sauce. Cover entire pan with leftover mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
• 6. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until cheese begins to brown and look bubbly. Let lasagna stand for 5-10 minutes before cutting.
• 7. Enjoy!!