My journey in the kitchen

This recipe is a must try! Even if you are a meat lover and you don’t believe vegetarian food can taste good by itself!

I like to call this the “lasagna of the moment” since depending on the veggies you have in the fridge it can taste slightly different. Still amazing result in the end! Original recipe is here.
This is what I had from the weekly basket:

Ingredients

Veggies and spinach
2tbsp olive oil
3-4 carrots
1 bell pepper
1-2 medium zucchini
1-2 onions
1 parsnip
1/4 tsp salt
5 to 6 oz baby spinach

Tomato sauce
1 large can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes (sauce)
2 tbsp olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 chili flakes
basil to taste

Remaining ingredients
2 cups (16oz) low-fat cottage cheese (use the one with small chunks)
9 lasagna noodles
2 cups (8oz) freshly grated mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

To prepare the veggies
Cut all the veggies in 1/2 inch cubes.

Warm the oil in a large skillet (or any ironcast pan you have) on medium heat. Add all veggies to the pan (except the spinach) and salt. Cook, stirring every couple of minutes, until the veggies are golden on the edges.
Add half of the spinach. Cook, stirring frequently until the spinach has wilted. Repeat with the remaining spinach.

Once the veggies are done cooking, transfer into a metal bowl and let them cool for 5min or so.

Using a hand-held food processor, pulse the veggies until they are finely chopped (but not pureed!), stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary.
Add the cottage cheese, 1/4 tsp salt and mix with a spatula.

Tomato sauce
Add all the ingredients in a bowl, except the garlic and basil. Whisk until blended, then add garlic and basil to your taste.

Preheat your oven to 425F.
Boil the noodles as per package instructions.

Lasagna assembly time
1. Spread 1/2 tomato sauce evenly over the bottom of a 9″ by 9″ baking dish.
Layer 3 lasagna noodles on top (snap off their ends to fit).
Spread half of the cottage cheese mixture over evenly over the noodles.
Top with 3/4 cup tomato sauce, then sprinkle 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese.

2. Top with 3 more noddles.
Spread remaining cottage cheese (we skip tomato sauce) and 1/2 mozzarella cheese.

3. Top with 3 more noddles. Spread 3/4 cup tomato sauce evenly cover the noodles. Sprinkle 1 cup cheese.

You may have a little tomato sauce left: store in a container in a fridge, since you can reuse it for pizza or pasta.

Cooking
Wrap an aluminum foil around the top of lasagna carefully not to come in contact with the cheese. Bake covered for 18 minutes, then remove the cover, rotate the pan by 180 degrees and continue cooking for about 10-12 more minutes, until the top is turning spotty brown.

Remove from oven and let it cool for 15-20min, so it has time to set. It will be easier to serve this way. Add fresh basil and serve.

Bon appetit.