A Vegetable Lasagna Recipe With The Sunshine Of The Mediterranean

This easy vegetable lasagna recipe is really the best vegetarian lasagne I’ve ever tasted. The vegetables are roasted in the oven to bring out rich, smoky flavours. In fact, the dish is so full of flavour and has such a wide appeal, it is a great choice for even the most meat-loving of dinner guests.

Ingredients:

Extra virgin olive oil
lasagne sheets (no-precook)
1 eggplant or aubergine
2 zucchini or courgettes
500g/1 pound of fresh tomatoes (I like to use whole cherry tomatoes. They are sweet and look really pretty. If you use larger tomatoes, chop them roughly)
1 red pepper
1 white or red onion
2-4 cloves of crushed garlic
Small bunch of fresh basil
About 2 tablespoons of roughly chopped black olives
2/3 cup/ 75g/3oz grated mozzarella
1/3 cup/50g grated parmesan or hard vegetarian cheese
3 cups/600g of cottage cheese or ricotta

Method:

1. For this vegetable lasagna recipe, you need to start by roasting the vegetables.
Toss the courgette(zucchini) and aubergine(eggplant) into a roasting tin with the cherry tomatoes, onion, pepper and garlic. Add about 3 tablespoons of olive oil, season with salt and pepper and stir well.

2. Place in a hot oven – 200c/400F – for 45 minutes to an hour until the vegetables are very soft and starting to brown.

3. When the vegetables are cooked remove from the oven, stir in the olives and basil.

4. Now you are ready to start layering the vegetarian lasagna. Put one third of the vegetable mixture at the base of a heatproof baking dish. Cover with one third of the mozzarella and follow with a layer of lasagne sheets. Add a layer of cottage cheese using one third of the total.

5. Repeat these layers, finishing with a layer of cottage cheese and sprinkle with parmesan.

6. Bake for about 30-40 minutes until golden.
And enjoy.

If you are unsure about using cottage cheese in this vegetable lasagna recipe, just try it once.  You might just be surprised - most people are. It is a deliciously light and low fat option - a great excuse to add a green salad, a chunk of Italian bread and a big glass of red wine!