This recipe for delicious vegetable lasagna comes from The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook, from the hit TV show. The cookbook offers more than 1,100 recipes, tips and techniques! Your family will love this recipe!
INGREDIENTS:
No-Boil Lasagna Noodles
- One box of no-boil lasagna noodles
Tomato Sauce
- 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 cup minced fresh basil leaves
- 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
Cream Sauce
- 8 oz whole-milk cottage cheese (about 1 cup)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 4 oz Parmesan cheese, grated (about 2 cups)
- 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Vegetable Filling
- 1 ½ lbs eggplant, peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper
- 1 lb zucchini, cut into ½-inch pieces
- 1 lb yellow squash, cut into ½-inch pieces
- 5 Tbsp plus 1 Tsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Tbsp minced fresh thyme leaves
- 12 oz baby spinach (12 cups)
- 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, minced
- 12 oz whole-milk mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 12 no-boil lasagna noodles
- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil leaves
DIRECTIONS:
1. For the tomato sauce: Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl; set aside.
2. No-boil lasagna noodles: Our creamy, quick no-cook tomato sauce brought enough moisture to our lasagna that we found that we could skip the usual step of soaking the no-boil noodles before assembling the dish.
3. For the cream sauce: Whisk all the ingredients together in a separate bowl; set aside.
4. For the filling: Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Toss the eggplant with 1 tsp kosher salt.
- Line the surface of a large plate with a double layer of coffee filters and lightly spray with vegetable oil spray.
- Spread the eggplant in an even layer over the coffee filters.
- Microwave the eggplant, uncovered, until dry to the touch and slightly shriveled, about 10 minutes, turning halfway through cooking. Cool slightly.
- Return the eggplant to the bowl and toss with the zucchini and summer squash.
- Combine 1 Tbsp of the oil, the garlic, and thyme in a small bowl.
- Heat 2 Tbsp more oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering.
- Add half of the eggplant mixture, 1/4 tsp kosher salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are lightly browned, about 7 minutes.
- Clear the center of the skillet, add half of the garlic mixture, and cook, mashing with a spatula, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir the garlic mixture into the vegetables and transfer to a medium bowl.
- Repeat with the remaining eggplant mixture, 2 Tbsp more oil, and the remaining garlic mixture; transfer to the bowl.
- Heat the remaining 1 tsp oil in the now-empty skillet over medium-high heat. Add the spinach and cook, stirring frequently, until wilted. Transfer the spinach to a paper towel–lined plate and drain for 2 minutes. Stir into the eggplant mixture.
5. Build the lasagna:
- Grease a 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Spread 1 cup of the tomato sauce evenly over the bottom of the dish. Arrange 4 noodles on top of the sauce. Spread half of the vegetable mixture over the noodles, then half of the olives. Spoon half of the cream sauce over the top and sprinkle with 1 cup of the mozzarella. Repeat. For the final layer, arrange the remaining 4 noodles on top and cover with remaining tomato sauce. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup mozzarella.
- Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil that has been sprayed with vegetable oil spray and bake until the edges are just bubbling, about 35 minutes, rotating the dish halfway through baking. Cool the lasagna for 25 minutes, then sprinkle with the basil and serve.
Enjoy!
Excerpted from The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook.
