• About
  • Write For Us
  • Contact
  • Top 50 Food Blogs
  • Cooking Resources
  • Forum

IndustryEats

  • Cooking Basics
  • Technique
  • Equipment
  • Recipes
    • Breakfast
    • Sandwiches
    • Pizza
    • Pasta
    • Seafood
    • Side Dishes
    • Salads
    • Soups
    • Breads
    • Desserts
  • Interviews
You are here: Home / Pasta / Perfect Vegetable Lasagna with Ricotta & Tomato Sauce Recipe

Perfect Vegetable Lasagna with Ricotta & Tomato Sauce Recipe

June 26, 2016

Perfect Vegetable Lasagna with Ricotta & Tomato Sauce Recipe

The above photo may very well be the best food shot I’ve ever taken. I have a few others that I think are really good, but this one takes the cake. And to think, it was totally unplanned.

I think I shared this in a previous post, but if I didn’t, I’ll share it again. The way these recipe posts work is like this: I usually begin cooking around 5pm and continue on until I’m finished. If things go well, the entire ordeal usually takes about an hour. Now, I know I’ve shared this part – by the time I’m done with the cooking, I’m usually so hungry that I’m not really focused on taking any photos. The photos I take during the process aren’t the challenge, it’s the ones at the end. Unfortunately, those “end” shots are the ones I need to choose the lead photo for the entire post from, so they’re important.

Anyway, last night’s recipe took a bit longer than many of the others I’ve taken part in. It required that I make some sauce and then do some baking. It took time. Since I had only eaten breakfast so far for the day (I do that a lot), I was practically starving. By the time I was finished cooking, which took me about 2 hours, the last thing I wanted to engage in was a photo shoot. But, me being me, I took a few photos and then went to hide at my computer to review them. This is the best one I got and it was the one I was going to use for this post:

Vegetable Lasagna

Don’t get me wrong – I like the picture. It’s just that once I heard Laura snapping away in the other room, I headed back to see what was going on. She had taken the initiative to place a piece of the lasagna on the spatula for more of an “action” shot, which I liked a lot. I pretty much copied her and was able to walk away with the photo you see at the top of this post. Not bad, even if it was an afterthought.

The Recipe

This is the last recipe I’ll be posting for this round. When I go grocery shopping, I usually pick up enough food for three to four meals. I already posted the earlier ones, so this will be it for a few more days. That is, until I head back to the store. That’s fine, because this one is somewhat involved, but totally worth it. There’s no way you’ll be able to eat the entire lasagna in one night, so you’ll have plenty of leftovers. We probably have about two more night’s worth in the refrigerator.

What I really love about this vegetable lasagna is the garlic and red pepper flakes in the sauce. I also enjoy the texture and how substantial the veggies are. In the entire lasagna, I use one eggplant, two red peppers and three zucchini. That’s pretty good and quite filling.

Vegetable Lasagna in Casserole Dish

I’ve been wanting to get back into larger dinners for some time. While I do love my sandwiches, I also truly enjoy many things that cook in a casserole dish. I think it’s the weight of them and the fact that I won’t be cooking for a few nights. I say that far too much – that I’m a lover of the leftover. I know.


Lastly, I’d like to thank Curtis Stone and his book What’s For Dinner? for the inspiration for this recipe. I did change things up quite a bit, but his original recipe was just as awesome. I’m a huge fan.

Ingredients

Serves: 6

For the Sauce

2 Tablespoons Regular Olive Oil
1 Large Sweet Onion, Chopped
5 Teaspoons Garlic, Minced
1 Teaspoon Dried Thyme
1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
1/2 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
2 Cups Dry White Wine
2 Large Cans (28 Ounce) Diced Tomatoes
Salt
1 Cup Ricotta Cheese
1 Tablespoon Dried Basil
Ground Black Pepper

For the Vegetables

1 Medium Sized Eggplant, Trimmed and Sliced into 1/4 Inch Slices, Lengthwise
Salt
3 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
3 Tablespoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Ground Black Pepper
3 Zucchinis, Trimmed and Sliced into 1/4 Inch Slices, Lengthwise
2 Red Bell Peppers, Trimmed, Cleaned and Cut into 16 Pieces Total, Lengthwise

For the Lasagna

12 Dried Oven-Ready Lasagna Noodles
1 Pound Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded

Step-by-Step Instructions

Make the Sauce

Warm a large pot over medium heat. When it’s to temperature, add the 2 tablespoons of regular olive oil. Then, add the chopped onion and minced garlic. Cook, while stirring, for about 5 minutes to soften both ingredients. After that, add in the 1 teaspoon of dried thyme, the 1 teaspoon of dried oregano and the 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Cook and stir for another 2 minutes. Finally, add in the 2 cups of dry white wine and raise the heat to high. Let boil for about 10 minutes or until the wine has reduced by half.


When the above part of the sauce is ready, go ahead and add in the 2 cans of diced tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and let cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for about 50 minutes.

After the sauce has cooked, season with a pinch of salt and ground black pepper and add in the 1 tablespoon of dried basil. Also add the 1 cup of ricotta cheese. Stir and remove from heat. The sauce is finished.

Ricotta Cheese & Tomato Sauce

Prepare the Vegetables

First, pre-heat your oven to 300 degrees. Then, in a small bowl, add the 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, the 3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt and a pinch of ground black pepper. Whisk together well.

Vinaigrette - Balsamic Vinegar & Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

Place the eggplant, the zucchini and the red bell peppers on two large baking sheets. Then, brush both sides of all vegetables with the vinaigrette. When finished, place both baking sheets into the oven and let cook for 15-20 minutes or until the veggies are somewhat soft. The goal here is to infuse the vegetables with flavor while softening and dehydrating them a bit. When finished, remove the trays from the oven and store for later use.

Here is a photo of the eggplant slices after I removed them from the oven:

Baked Eggplant Slices

Assemble the Lasagna


First, pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Then, in a 13x9x2 casserole dish, add about 1 cup of tomato sauce. Spread it around.

Tomato Sauce in Casserole

After that, add 4 dry lasagna noodles. Break and arrange if necessary.

Lasagna Noodles in Casserole

Next, add a layer that consists of 1/3 of the vegetables, another 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce and then a layer that consists of 1/3 of the shredded mozzarella cheese.

Roasted Vegetables in Casserole

Adding Another Layer of Tomato Sauce to Casserole

Adding a Layer of Shredded Mozzarella Cheese to Lasagna Casserole

Once those layers are down, add another 4 dry noodles, another 1/3 of the vegetables, another 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce and another 1/3 of shredded mozzarella cheese. After that, add the final 4 noodles and another 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce. Top things off with the remainder of the vegetables and the last of the tomato sauce over that. Keep the remaining mozzarella cheese for later.

After all the layering is finished, cover the casserole with aluminum foil and place it in the oven. Let cook for 45 minutes. Then, remove the foil and sprinkle the remaining shredded mozzarella cheese across the surface and place the casserole back in the oven. Let cook for another 30 minutes. Remove from oven, turn off heat and you’re done. Cut into appropriate sized pieces and serve.


The Final Dish

I don’t think I need to state how much I enjoy dishes like this. Lasagna is very high on my list and is only topped by eggplant parmesan. Both are really great and this recipe stands up to my expectations and experience. If you decide to give this a try, please let me know what you think. Also, please feel free to give suggestions and alternative ingredients and methods in the comment area below. I’m all ears.

Individual Piece of Vegetarian Lasagna

Piece of Vegetable Lasagna on Plate

——

If you’ve enjoyed today’s post and found it helpful, please share it with a friend. Also, if you’d like to continue reading and would like our posts sent directly to your email inbox, simply sign up for our newsletter. We’ll send each and every post directly to you. Thanks!

Related posts:

  1. Traditional Pasta with Mushroom & Basil Sauce Recipe
  2. Butternut Squash & Spinach Vegetarian Lasagna Recipe by PureWow
  3. Spinach Lasagna Rolls with Homemade Sauce Recipe
  4. Perfect Spring Vegetable Frittata Recipe
  5. Roasted Fall Vegetable, Ricotta & Mozzarella Cheese Pizza Recipe

Filed Under: Pasta

What’s Next? Email Updates!

If you enjoyed reading this post, why not consider signing up to receive others like it by email? It's so easy and you can unsubscribe at any time.

About Jay Gaulard

My name is Jay Gaulard and I'm what I like to call an "inexperienced chef," if that's not an oxymoron. I initially decided to immerse myself into the world of food and cooking in May of 2015, when I began growing, in earnest, my first garden. The garden produced a wonderful yield and with some newfound confidence, my hobby of learning about what I eat took shape. Currently, I'm enrolled in an online cooking school and am quite active with the culinary community. I primarily write posts about what I research and learn along the way.

Comments

  1. Pam Ganz says

    June 27, 2016 at 5:56 am

    Yum! I would love to have some. Nice job!?

    Reply
    • Jay Gaulard says

      June 27, 2016 at 7:15 pm

      Yes, it’s pretty good. Lots of food right there.

      Reply
  2. Natasha @ Salt and Lavender says

    July 4, 2016 at 12:26 pm

    I know what you mean about being hungry. The food blogging struggle is real. Your photos are now making me hungry 😉

    Reply
    • Jay Gaulard says

      July 4, 2016 at 8:45 pm

      Thanks Natasha! I hate it when that happens. Oh well. We do what we gotta do. By the way, I’m heading out for some food shopping tomorrow so I’ll be posting again. These few days off have been making me feel extremely guilty. The problem was, we didn’t need any food!

      Jay

      Reply
      • Natasha @ Salt and Lavender says

        July 6, 2016 at 3:18 pm

        I know the too much food issue… it happens in my house!! I’m going on a trip later this summer and have been stockpiling recipes so that I don’t miss a beat… so there’s waaay too much food around 😛

        Reply
        • Jay Gaulard says

          July 6, 2016 at 6:51 pm

          That’s smart. I can’t believe I went 10 days without posting. I’m back at it though. I don’t feel so bad though because I was writing like crazy on my other blog.

          Jay

          Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Connect With Me

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

RECEIVE MY POSTS BY EMAIL!

Interested in receiving my posts by email? This is your chance! Simply place your email address in the box below and I'll deliver each and every post I write directly to your inbox.

MOST POPULAR POSTS

  • What Does Cutting “On the Bias” Mean in the Culinary World? If you're not a trained chef or don't hang out with...
  • The Ultimate Dutch Oven Macaroni & Cheese Recipe Boy have I got a good one for you today. This is pr...
  • Leek Fritters Recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty There's something about the simplicity and ease of eati...
  • Crispy Salmon With Crushed New Potatoes In today's post, I'm going to attempt one of Gordon...
  • Repairing & Refinishing a Wooden Kitchen Cutting Board As I mentioned in my previous post, a gentleman, wh...
  • Sweet Potato Cakes Recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty Today's recipe is quick and easy. If you've ever made r...
  • Homemade Sauerkraut & Potato Pierogi Recipe I've loved pierogies as long as I can remember. I u...
  • Classic Italian Bread Recipe by Bread Illustrated Here's the deal with making bread - pretty much every r...
  • Tamara’s Ratatouille From Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty Laura has been telling me about this thing called "Rata...
  • Why Did My Bread Come Out Flat? I would love to run a blog where every recipe I pos...

Recent Comments

  • Jay Gaulard on Skillet Roasted Cabbage with Caraway Seeds & Lemon Recipe
  • Theo on Skillet Roasted Cabbage with Caraway Seeds & Lemon Recipe
  • Jay Gaulard on Fluffy Dinner Rolls Recipe by Bread Illustrated
  • Karly Davenport on Fluffy Dinner Rolls Recipe by Bread Illustrated
  • Jay Gaulard on Gluten-Free Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Recipe

Copyright © 2021 · IndustryEats.com Food & Cooking Blog · About · Write For Us · Contact · Privacy / Terms · Sitemap