Lasagna Style Cheesy Baked Summer Vegetables


I was craving a good, summer vegetable lasagna. But I didn’t have lasagna sheets in my pantry. In fact, I didn’t have any kind of pasta at all. So I went rummaging in my kitchen to see what else I could use instead of pasta to create a lasagna style baked dish. I found a lone white potato, along with lots of zucchini and mushrooms. So I decided to slice the potato thin, and use it instead of the lasagna sheets. It worked perfectly! Here is the recipe for you.


There is no pasta in this recipe to absorb the liquid that the vegetables will release during cooking. So the “lasagna” will be a little runny. But because it’s so saucy, I can then mop up all the cheesy sauce with bread. If you let the “lasagna” rest for 5 minutes before serving, it will become more set. If you like your vegetable bake to be very set, so you can slice into it, whisk an egg into the pasta sauce before layering the bake. The egg will help set the bake.

For a complete vegetarian meal, serve the lasagna style baked vegetables with some good, crusty bread (I like baguettes or ciabatta) and a green salad.

This recipe will also freeze very well. So if you have an abundance of zucchini, use it up by making this recipe. Then cool the bake and freeze it in freezer bags.

Lasagna Style Cheesy Baked Vegetables
Serves about 4.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 pound crimini mushrooms, quartered
  • 2 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/2-inch-thick rings
  • 1 medium white potato, sliced into 1/8-inch-thin rounds
  • 1 red or green pepper, sliced thin
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2 cups of your favorite pasta sauce
  • 3 tablespoons chopped basil
  • 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • Salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Method:

  1. Use an ovenproof baking dish large enough to hold all the vegetables, sauce and cheese. Start by spreading one-third of the pasta sauce on the bottom of the dish. Arrange one-third of the sliced potato, in a single layer. Top with one-third of all the vegetables and garlic. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper on top of the vegetables.  Then sprinkle one-third of the cheese, basil and parsley on top.
  2. Repeat the layering process until you have used up all the ingredients. You don’t have to be exact. Just make sure to end with the cheese on top.
  3. Loosely tent a piece of tin foil on top of the baking dish. Bake it in the oven for 45 minutes or until the “lasagna” is bubbly and the vegetables are cooked.
  4. Then remove the foil tent and continue baking until the cheese on top is golden, about 10 minutes. Let the “lasagna” rest for 5 minutes before serving. It will thicken and set as it cools. Serve with crusty bread and a green salad.

For more easy, vegetarian recipes visit my blog Veggie Belly and follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

Photo credits: Sala Kannan