Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

Weeknights are always hectic with work, kids, homework, making dinner, cleaning up, and working on the blog. At the same time I want to ensure that they are getting good nutritious food that is homemade, and filling so that they are not hungry soon after. Sundays are for meal prep to ensure that I am set for the week in terms of what to make everyday for dinner. I love dinner hacks, that can help to make life a little bit easier.

COOL HACK with my ROASTED VEGETABLE MARINARA SAUCE, with a great way to hide vegetables especially for younglings!

One of my most favorite dinner hacks is a Roasted Vegetable Marinara Sauce that I make with seasonal vegetables. I roasted vegetables like bell pepper, zucchini, red onion, eggplant and garlic with a bunch of herbs and spices. I puree the vegetables, along with spinach and with store bought good quality marinara sauce (my favorite is Rao’s Homemade Marinara Sauce),

I use this sauce to toss with plain pasta with some Parmesan, or creamy ricotta as one option. I also use this marinara to make a delicious lasagna that is layers of pasta and cheese, without any chunky vegetables in your mouth, hence making it so easy for kids to dig into, and enjoy their meals, but at the same time getting their necessary food groups, like vegetables, carbs, and protein!

I used this hack ALL the time when my kids were little.

The ingredients for this Roasted Vegetable Marinara Sauce are:

• Vegetables like zucchini, bell pepper, eggplant and onions
• Fresh garlic
• Olive oil
• Smoked paprika
• Italian seasoning
• Red chili flakes
• Salt and pepper
• Store bought marinara sauce : My preference is Rao’s Homemade Marinara Sauce
• Boiled spinach

DINNER MADE EASY with my ROASTED VEGETABLE LASAGNA

For the Roasted Vegetable Lasagna, prepare the Roasted Vegetable Marinara Sauce. While the vegetables are roasting for the sauce, I boil the lasagna noodles, and grate the mozzarella and keep it ready.

I prepare the ricotta, by mixing it with lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper. The ricotta cheese is used while layering and assembly of the lasagna.

The ingredients for the Roasted Vegetable Lasagna are:

• Roasted Vegetable Marinara Sauce
• Lasagna noodles : I use Barilla, but you can use what you are comfortable with. You can even use the no boil noodles. You may require more quantity of the no boil noodles, since they are usually smaller in size as compared to the boiled noodles.
• Ricotta mixed with lemon juice, zest, salt and black pepper.
• Cheeses like mozzarella and Parmesan.
• Herbs like fresh basil and parsley.

Lasagna assembly

The lasagna is assembled by using a 9×11 baking pan, or you can even use a 9×9 baking pan. I create about 4 layers of pasta with the sauce and mozzarella, ricotta and Parmesan in the middle. I finally top it off with the mozzarella and Parmesan, and put bits of butter on the top so that it crisps up well. The lasagna is covered with aluminum foil and baked in the oven for about 40 minutes, and then boiled for a couple of minutes after removing the foil.

Premake the lasagna, and bake the next day!

You can also assemble the lasagna, and keep it in the fridge until ready to bake it the next day. It can also be stored in the freezer by covering it properly, and then baking it within a couple of weeks. I have done this trick especially if I am traveling. My husband simply bakes the lasagna and it is ready to eat.

My kids love this lasagna with simple arugula salad tossed in lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and slices of Parmesan on the top. I also grill some sourdough bread on the side for the kids to enjoy with their meal. Leftovers make into the kid’s lunchbox and they have a delicious lunch to eat.

I love hacks like these, that make life a little bit easy for us who are always on the GO. I hope you get to try this recipe for your family. It works well and stores well too.

The other dinner ideas that are popular on the blog are:

• Vegetable Noodle Soup
• Butternut Squash, Mushroom and Fontina Bake
• Garlicky Green Beans and Tofu

If you make this recipe, please tag #thejamlab on Instagram and/or leave a comment on this blog post.

XO

Amisha

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

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• Amisha Gurbani

Do you have fussy kids who do not eat vegetables? I have a cool mom hack with my Roasted Vegetable Lasagna. I make a roasted vegetable marinara sauce with zucchini, bell peppers, onions and eggplant, and puree it with store bought marinara along with herbs and spices. You can use the no-boil noodles or the boiled lasagna, either way works. The sheets are layered with that vegetable-rich sauce, along with lemony ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan and baked to perfection until golden brown.Leftovers make for an awesome next day lunch. It can also be frozen and baked at a later time, at your convenience.

Serves 6 to 8

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Ingredients

Roasted Vegetable Marinara

• 1 red bell pepper cut into medium pieces
• 1 zucchini cut into medium cubes
• 1 medium red onion cut into medium cubes
• 2 small eggplants cut into medium cubes
• 6 garlic cloves
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1 ½ teaspoons of red chili flakes
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 2 teaspoons table salt
• Store bought good quality marinara sauce – 28 oz
• 2 cups of boiled and cooled spinach

For the Lasagna

• 4 tablespoons butter at room temperature, divided
• 15 oz ricotta cheese
• Lemon zest of one lemon
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 2 teaspoons coarse black pepper
• ~5 to 6 cups of roasted vegetable marinara sauce
• ~15 lasagna sheets (boiled per packaged instructions)
• ~ 4 to 5 cups of grated mozzarella
• 1 cup of Parmesan
• Additional black pepper

Garnish:

• Basil leaves
• Finely chopped parsley

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Method

Roasted Vegetable Marinara Sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a baking tray, add the vegetables, garlic, olive oil, smoked paprika, Italian seasoning, red chili flakes, black pepper and salt. Toss it all together until well coated.
3. Bake the vegetables for 30 minutes until lightly charred. Remove from the oven and let it cool.
4. In a high speed blender, add the roasted vegetables, marinara sauce, along with the spinach and blend until pureed. Your roasted vegetable marinara sauce is ready.

For the Lasagna

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Butter a 9×12 inch baking dish, with the 2 tablespoons of butter.
3. In a medium bowl, add the ricotta, lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper. Mix until well combined. Set aside.
4. To assemble, layer about 3/4 cup of marinara sauce on the bottom of the pan. Layer 3 lasagna sheets vertically next to each other. Layer with 3/4 cup of marinara sauce. Top the sauce with dollops of 1/4th of the ricotta mixture. Using a rubber spatula, gently spread it all over. Top with about 1 cup of mozzarella and 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese. Sprinkle it with black pepper. Repeat this process 3 more times.
5. Final layer will be of the lasagna sheets, topped with mozzarella and left over Parmesan. Sprinkle it with black pepper. Add small tiny dollops of the remaining butter on the top. Cover with aluminum foil.
6. Place the baking tray in the oven for about 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the foil from the top. 7. Broil for about 2 minutes until the top is slightly browned and the lasagna is bubbling, watching it closely so as not to burn the top. Remove the lasagna carefully from the oven and rest for about 10 minutes.
7. Garnish with the basil and parsley.
8. Serve with a side salad of arugula, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and Parmesan and some toasted garlic bread!

Notes

Frequently asked questions

• Premake the lasagna, and bake the next day!
  • You can also assemble the lasagna, and keep it in the fridge until ready to bake it the next day. It can also be stored in the freezer by covering it properly, and then baking it within a couple of weeks. I have done this trick especially if I am traveling. My husband simply bakes the lasagna and it is ready to eat.

• How to serve lasagna?
  • My kids love this lasagna with simple arugula salad tossed in lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and slices of Parmesan on the top. I also grill some sourdough bread on the side for the kids to enjoy with their meal.

• Can we store the leftovers?
  • Leftovers make into the kid’s lunchbox. Leftovers can be kept until 2 days.