Vegetarian Lasagna

Lasagna is one of those dishes that doesn't adhere to seasons.  It's also very forgiving when it comes to ingredients as long as the cheeses and the sauce are right.  My absolute favorite lasagna is a mushroom, roasted red pepper and spinach concoction with layers of provolone, mozzarella, cottage and parmesan; it's great in the summer, fabulous in the winter and it rocks the next day.  With this lasagna, fresh, frozen, dried, or jarred works every single time, regardless of what you have on hand.  Except the cheese.  The mozzarella must be fresh.  But doesn't mozzarella always need to be fresh?  If you are still buying the sort-of-soft-but-mostly-hard block of mozzarella, please stop.  If you are still buying it already shredded, you may actually kill me.

Choose a good, hearty, flavorful sauce for this lasagna.  It's the primary source of the herb flavors here, and I have found that when I need to rely on a commercial sauce, the flavors just aren't as bold as I'd like them to be for this dish.  Just to be safe, you might consider jazzing up a jarred marinara with some dried basil or oregano.

Vegetarian Lasagna

• 9 uncooked whole wheat lasagna noodles
• 1 24-28oz meatless marinara (either homemade or a good, organic basil and tomato is great)
• 2 large portobello mushroom caps (about 6-8oz), chopped
• 1 12oz jar roasted red peppers, drained, patted dry, and chopped (or your own roasted, in which case you would use 2 peppers)
• 1 10oz pkg frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 2 cups cottage cheese
• 3/4 c grated parmesan cheese, divided
• 2 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 1/4 tsp salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 c shredded provolone cheese
• 1 c shredded fresh mozzarella
• 1 tsp dried oregano (or 1Tbs freshly chopped)

Preheat oven to 350F.

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• In a bowl, combine mushrooms, roasted red peppers, and spinach. In another bowl, combine cottage cheese, 1/2 c paremesan, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. In another bowl, combine the provolone and mozzarella cheeses.

In a 13x9 pan, spread 1/4 of the marinara sauce. Layer 3 uncooked noodles, 1/3 vegetable mixture, 1/3 cottage cheese mixture, 1/3 provolone/mozzarella mixture, 1/4 marinara. Repeat layers. Top with remaining 1/4 c parmesan and oregano.

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• Cover with foil. Bake 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 15 minutes before slicing.  
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• Serve with a simple salad, crusty bread smeared with roasted garlic, and a lovely bottle of wine.
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