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Vegetable Lasagna, 9 points+

March 31, 2013 by DanicasDaily 12 Comments

One of the first dishes that came to my mind when I decided to do Meatless March was Vegetable Lasagna.  I pondered several recipes, ideas and ways to make a Vegetarian Lasagna before deciding on making a simple vegetable lasagna like I made a a few years back that packs in a ton of fresh vegetables.  I can’t believe it has taken me so long to make this lasagna again because it is so amazing, I guarantee you won’t miss the meat!

This is a great way to use up veggies in the fridge ~ pick and choose any vegetables you have on hand, toss them in this delicious pasta sauce, add a few noodles and cheese for one pretty amazing dish.  You can save time by using no boil noodles and buying pre-shredded cheeses.

Serve this up with a simple side salad tossed with olive oil/lemon juice for a completely delicious and healthy vegetarian meal.

VEGETABLE LASAGNA (print it!)

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INGREDIENTS

  • 1 onion & 1 red or yellow bell pepper, diced
  • 2 small zucchini, quartered and diced
  • 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced and roughly chopped
  • 6 garlic cloves, minced and divided
  • 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, not packed in oil, chopped
  • 28 oz. jarred pasta sauce
  • 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 6 oz. fresh spinach
  • 15 oz. fat free ricotta cheese
  • 12 oz. part skim mozzarella
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
  • 1/4 cup basil
  • 1 egg
  • 12 no boil lasagna noodles
  • a few pinches of crushed red pepper flakes

INSTRUCTIONS

1.  THE SAUCE: Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Add the onion, bell pepper, mushrooms and 4 minced garlic cloves.  Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add the sun dried tomatoes, pasta sauce, tomato paste, red wine and a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat, stir in spinach and set aside.

2.  THE FILLING:  In a medium mixing bowl. combine the ricotta, 1 oz. mozzarella, 1/4 cup parmesan, basil, egg, remaining garlic and a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes.  Stir to combine and set aside.

3.  THE LASAGNA:  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9 x 13 dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Start layering the lasagna by spreading 1 cup of the pasta sauce on the bottom of the dish.  Add 4 noodles, then, 1/2 the ricotta mixture and 1/3 of the mozzarella.  Repeat one time – sauce, noodles, ricotta then cheese.  Finish with the remaining sauce, mozzarella and parmesan cheese.  Bake for 45 minutes until the cheese is melted and the top is golden.  Let sit for 10 minutes, slice, serve and dig in!

Makes 8 LARGE Vegetable Lasagna Slices, 9 points+ each, 100% Simply Filling with whole wheat noodles

Nutritional information per slice calculated at caloriecount.com

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STEP – BY – STEP:

Start off by chopping all your veggies ~ pick and choose whatever sounds good. 

Cooking the vegetables BEFORE you put them in the lasagna is key as it allows the water to cook off preventing your lasagna from getting soggy.

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Add the veggies and garlic to a large nonstick pan and sauté over medium high heat until softened, about 5 minutes.

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I buy my Sun Dried Tomatoes in a package at Trader Joe’s.  They add this incredible sweet and tangy richness to the sauce to make it taste like you’ve been cooking it all day.

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I took a few shortcuts to save on time by using a jarred sauce, but, you could easily make your own your own homemade sauce in the slow cooker.

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Even if you are not a wine drinker, I highly recommend adding 1 cup of a good quality wine that you would drink.  This gives the sauce depth and flavor.

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After simmering the sauce for about 5 minutes allowing it to reduce, remove it from the heat and slowly stir in the fresh spinach. 

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While the sauce is cooking, make up your cheesy filling by combining the ricotta with 1 egg, 1/4 cup basil, 1/4 cup parmesan, 1 oz. mozzarella, a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes and a little sea salt/black pepper.

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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees while you layer up your incredibly delicious vegetable lasagna.

After spraying a 9 x 13 dish with nonstick spray, add 1 cup of sauce….

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4 no boil lasagna noodles (I bought mine at Trader Joe’s but you can get them anywhere).

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1/2 the ricotta mixture using a spoon to press it down on the noodles.

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1/3 of the remaining mozzarella…

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Then, repeat….sauce, noodles….

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Cheese, sauce, noodles, sauce….then the remaining mozzarella and parmesan.

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Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the cheese is melted and slightly browned.

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Allow to cool for 10 minutes so everything can set, slice into 8 slices and enjoy!

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Happy Easter Everyone!  I hope you all had a fantastic day. I will be back tomorrow with my Meatless March thoughts and this week’s menu….for now, I am off to enjoy the last bits of the weekend.

Night all!

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Filed Under: Meatless March, Recipes Tagged With: Pasta, Vegetarian

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Comments

  1. 1

    Gail H. says

    April 1, 2013 at 2:42 am

    Lasagna looks fabulous! I’ve been hooked on the WW crock pot lasagna, now I’m going to try yours! Looking forward to your weekly menu 🙂 I don’t want to be an enabler, but you MUST place an order from The Australian Bakery…Bryan just ordered Hot Cross Buns and they tasted just like they came straight from Australia 🙂 You can also order lamingtons, and vanilla slices…and I keep forgetting to ask you…did you eat Tim Tams on your trip? Hope you had a great Holiday week-end, and I did try the Jenny-O turkey bacon…pretty tasty!

    Reply
  2. 2

    Sue says

    April 1, 2013 at 4:55 am

    I’m going to have to make this – it looks great! There’s a WW recipe where you only use one noodle per layer – making up the rest of the layer with roasted sliced eggplant or zucchini. If you use a square pan, and arrange the noodles just so, you still get pasta in each bite but with 1/4 of the noodles!

    Reply
    • 3

      Leslie says

      April 1, 2013 at 8:35 am

      Can you post this WW recipe? Would love to try that. How many points+ is it? Thanks!!!

      Reply
      • 4

        DanicasDaily says

        April 1, 2013 at 8:49 pm

        Hi Leslie,

        I found this recipe on WW Online… not sure if it is the one Sue uses, but, here is the link.

        http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/RecipePage.aspx?recipeId=135321

        Danica

        Reply
  3. 5

    Lynda @Me and My Pink Mixer says

    April 1, 2013 at 9:11 am

    Yum – this looks delish! I’m putting it in my dinner rotation this week! What type of jar sauce do you use?

    Reply
    • 6

      DanicasDaily says

      April 1, 2013 at 8:52 pm

      Hi Lynda,

      I used Barilla Organic Tomato Basil, but, any variety will do. I also like Trader Joe’s Arabiatta.

      Danica

      Reply
  4. 7

    Connie says

    April 1, 2013 at 9:39 am

    This looks wonderful, love the detailed directions. I’m definitely giving this a try this week too! I love the WW crockpot lasagna Gail mentioned above too.

    Reply
  5. 8

    Connie says

    April 1, 2013 at 9:49 am

    Oh! One more note….
    Danica, I finally tried your Kale Chips over the weekeend! My husband and 12 year old son and I loved them. My other two kids, didn’t go for it. lol But I will definitely be making them again. Thanks to you I have branched out and tried something new. That was the first time I bought Kale.
    And my family teases me because I’m always saying Danica makes this….. or Danica told me about this….!!! Like you are talking just to me. 🙂

    Reply
  6. 9

    Lucia says

    April 1, 2013 at 5:35 pm

    The lasagna looks great, I would add a pinch of nutmeg ad some mint to the ricotta filling, can not wait to make it

    Reply
  7. 10

    Lucia says

    April 1, 2013 at 5:37 pm

    The lasagna looks great, I would add a pinch of nutmeg ad some mint to the ricotta filling, can not wait to make it. Kale chips are the topic of conversation at work, so I brought some in

    Reply
  8. 11

    Lucia says

    April 1, 2013 at 5:38 pm

    The lasagna looks great, I would add a pinch of nutmeg add some mint to the ricotta filling, can not wait to make it. Kale chips are the topic of conversation at work, so I brought some in

    Reply

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About Danica

Whether she’s enjoying a dish at a local restaurant or whipping up a crowd-pleasing, nutritious meal at home, Danica has a passion for all things food. She believes in and follows the Weight Watchers principle of “all things in moderation” and chronicles her culinary adventures here. Besides sharing her daily eats and tasty, nutritious recipes, Danica connects others seeking a healthier lifestyle on her site and shares her travel adventures with her husband around the world.

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