Hearty Veggie Lasagna

This thing is hardcore. Weighs a ton, but you can eat a lot and not feel heavy!

So lets prepare everything first, then we'll get to the building of the lasagna ehhhh!!!

Cut up your eggplant and get it sweating, and cut up your zucchini and squash all in thin pieces. Keep your eggplant a little thicker than the others since it shrinks like crazy. You can prepare any red sauce you like, and we'll get to some of mine later. For this one, I sauted some red and orange bell peppers and some white onion, and threw it in with the sauce for an even heartier veggie sauce.

While your pasta is cooking, defrost and drain about 5 oz of frozen spinach. Mix the spinach with about 6 oz Ricotta cheese and some parm cheese, and set aside. Prep your mozzarella for each layer, and pick a bunch of fresh basil leaves and set aside. Cook your eggplant squash and zucchini in some olive oil over medium heat until they are still tender, set aside. Drain your pasta and set aside.

You should now have a bowl of pasta, a bowl of sauce, a bowl of mozzarella, a bowl of spinach/ricotta, a bowl or fresh basil (and other herbs you may have), and a plate with your eggplant squash and zucchini. Overwhelmed yet? Dont be! You have all the time in the world to build your lasagna, so dont stress. I always make mine a day or two ahead of time so all the flavors can meld together. The older the lasagna the better it will taste...

So now we build. Preheat your oven to 350 and get your pan ready. On the bottom of your pan, spoon a layer of sauce down. This is instead of an oil or non stick grease. Throw down some pasta, then eggplant.

Pour a nice amount of sauce over, spreading evenly, then lay out some mozzarella and your zucchini and squash.

Spoon on your Spinach Ricotta Parm mixture and lay out some basil.

Continue with your layers until youve run out of room or youve used everything! Make sure to tap the bottom of your pan, it'll help things to settle so you can fit more!I usually wind up making 2 or 3 pans in one go.

Once youre done building your lasagna, cover it with some plastic wrap and aluminium foil, and put in your 350 oven. Dont worry about the plastic wrap melting, as long as theres not huge amounts youll be fine. The foil will also help it to not melt. If you're eating it now, keep it in the oven for about 15 or 20 minutes, or until you cant stand the smell anymore. If you'll be eating it later, take it out of the oven after just a few, long enough to begin to combine flavors. Cool on your counter before putting it in your fridge or freezer.

And of course, you dont want lasagna without some bread to sop up the sauce left on your plate.

I ran to Amy's Bakery on 9th Ave for my favorite, a Rosemary mini loaf. Toasted with some butter and served with oil. YUM.

I froze this one below, and added some fresh sauce and more cheese. Served with lots of fresh Basil!!!