If you want to serve a large casserole of something that’s sure to please a hungry group, it’s hard to go wrong with lasagna.
On that note, some folks who agree with that notion will opt to skip the fuss and buy a good quality ready-to-bake lasagna from a food store. But if you want to make it yourself, have the time to do so and want to be able to assemble the lasagna hours in advance of baking it, I have a recipe for you to try.
It’s roasted vegetable lasagna with ricotta and spinach and there are few steps required to make it. The process begins by roasting a sheet pan full of cut onions, bell peppers, zucchini and mushrooms, tossed with olive oil and seasonings, until they are tender.
The vegetables and mushrooms are then set aside while you cook the dried lasagna noodles needed for the lasagna. I prefer to use that type of lasagna noodle rather than dry (sometimes called “express,” which you don’t have to cook first), because I find the latter type absorbs too much moisture as they soften and become tender while cooking in the lasagna. That, in turn, yields a lasagna that is a drier in texture and less appealing, especially if you want to make the lasagna in advance and bake it later.
You’ll also have to grate some mozzarella and Parmesan cheese for the lasagna, make a ricotta cheese mixture that’s rich with spinach and eggs, and open some jars of passata di pomodoro, a smooth tomato sauce also called strained tomatoes.
To assemble the lasagna, I layered the roasted vegetables and mushrooms, grated cheeses, passata, ricotta mixture and noodles together in a deeper, 2 3/4-inch tall, 13- x 9-inch baking dish. That dish is about 1/2-inch taller than a regular 13- x 9-inch dish and will accommodate the four layers of noodles and filling this lasagna has. If you don’t have one, you’ll find that size of dish at stores that sell a wide variety of cookware.
You can assemble the lasagna at least 12 hours in advance, cover it and refrigerate it until ready to bake. See the Eric’s options part of the recipe for more details on that.
To test if the lasagna is cooked and ready to come out the oven, I like to insert the tip of paring knife into the centre of it and leave it there a few seconds. The knife is then removed and when you very carefully touch your bottom lip with it and the knife feels very hot, the lasagna should be ready.
To make a meal of the lasagna, serve it with a green or caesar salad and some crusty Italian bread or garlic bread.
Roasted Vegetable Lasagna with Ricotta and Spinach
Roasting vegetables gives them a rich, sweetened flavour that balances the tangy/acidic tastes of the tomato sauce and cheese they’re layered with in this hearty lasagna.
Preparation time: 90 minutes
Cooking time: 97 to 102 minutes
Makes: eight servings
1 medium onion, diced into small (1/2-inch) cubes
1 medium red or yellow bell pepper, diced into small (1/2-inch) cubes
1 medium green bell pepper, diced into small (1/2-inch) cubes
1 medium zucchini, diced into small (1/2-inch) cubes
4 large garlic cloves, halved and very thinly sliced
10 medium white or brown mushrooms, very thinly sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp dried basil or oregano
• a few pinches red peppers flakes
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 (142-gram/5-ounce) tub fresh baby spinach
1 (500 gram or similar sized) tub ricotta cheese
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
5 cups passata di pomodoro (divided; see Note 1)
16 dry lasagna noodles, cooked as per package directions, drained, cooled in cold water, and then drained again (see Note 2)
3/4 pound (about 340 grams) mozzarella cheese, grated
• freshly grated parmesan cheese, to taste
Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a large-sided baking sheet (mine was 18- x 13-inches) with parchment paper. Place onion, bell peppers, zucchini, garlic and mushrooms in a bowl and toss with the olive oil, basil (or oregano), pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Spread vegetables and mushrooms out on the baking sheet and roast 25 to 30 minutes, or until vegetables are very tender. Remove from the oven and set aside for now.
Fill a wide pot with 1/2 inch of water and bring to a boil over medium, medium-high heat. Add spinach and cook and stir until it just wilts, about 90 seconds. Drain boiling water from spinach, cool spinach with cold water, and then set in a sieve. Now firmly press on and squeeze out as much moisture as you can from the spinach. Set spinach on a cutting board, coarsely chop and then put in a bowl. Mix in the ricotta cheese, eggs, nutmeg and salt and pepper, to taste.
To assemble the lasagna, begin by spooning 1 1/4 cups of passata into the bottom of a 2 3/4-inch deep, 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Top the passata with a layer of 4 noodles. Top and spread those noodles with 1 1/4 cups of the passata. Top that passata with half of the roasted vegetables and third of the grated mozzarella cheese. Top with 4 more noodles. Top and spread those noodles with the ricotta mixture. Top the ricotta mixture with 4 more noodles. Top and spread those noodles with 1 1/4 cups of the passata. Top those noodles with the remaining roasted vegetables and half of the remaining mozzarella cheese. Set on the last 4 noodles. Firmly press down on the noodles to compact the layers of filling below them. Top and spread those noodles with the remaining passata. Evenly top that passata with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Now sprinkle the top of the lasagna with grated Parmesan cheese, to taste (see Eric’s options).
Preheat oven to 350 F. Set the dish of lasagna on a baking sheet if you’re concerned it may bubble over during cooking process. Tent the lasagna with foil and bake 55 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 to 20 minutes more, or until golden on top and very hot in the centre when tested with the tip of paring knife. Let lasagna rest five to 10 minutes, before slicing and serving.
Note 1: Passata di pomodoro, also called strained tomatoes, is a smooth tomato sauce sold in tall bottles in the pasta sauce aisle of supermarkets. You’ll need two (680 mL or similar sized) bottles of it to get the five cups needed for this recipe. The leftover sauce can be frozen for another use.
Note 2: I used Catelli brand “classic” dry lasagna noodles when testing this recipe. They are sold at many grocery stores. One box of them contains 20 noodles, four more than you’ll need here. Save the rest for another use, such as breaking the noodles up and cooking them in a tomatoey, Italian-style vegetable soup.
Eric options: You can assemble the lasagna many hours in advance, cover it and refrigerate it until ready to bake. When ready to cook it, let the lasagna warm at room temperature 30 to 60 minutes. When you do cook it, because you’ll be starting with a refrigerator-chilled lasagna, bake it 60 minutes covered with foil. And then uncover and bake 20 to 25 minutes more, or until golden on top and very hot in the centre when tested with the tip of paring knife.
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
