Strolling through your vegetable garden, admiring the fresh summer produce, you might wonder just what to do with it all. Surely these crispy, crunchy treats deserve more ceremony than a salad! Perhaps the answer is pasta! Garden Fresh Lasagna layers on the tender noodles and creamy ricotta mixture, but instead of using meat, it uses hearty spinach, floral broccoli, bright carrots, and savory mushrooms for a filling that will leave you filled! Cheesy, heartwarming, summery—these words pale in comparison to the taste of the Garden Fresh Lasagna. All you need is one bite to see what we mean!
Ingredients
- 8 ounces dried lasagna noodles
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 cups cream-style cottage cheese
- 1 (15-ounce) carton ricotta cheese
- 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning, crushed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or cooking oil
- 2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and thoroughly drained
- 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and thoroughly drained
- 1 cup carrots, shredded
- 3/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
- 1 (8-ounce) package of mozzarella cheese, shredded
Directions
Step 1 –Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Step 2 –Grease a 3-quart rectangular baking dish.
Step 3 –Cook the lasagna noodles to al dente according to the package directions.
Step 4 –Drain the noodles.
Step 5 –In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, and Italian seasoning.
Step 6 –In a large skillet, heat the olive oil.
Step 7 –Add the mushrooms, onion, and garlic and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
Step 8 –Stir in the flour and pepper.
Step 9 –Add the milk quickly.
Step 10 –Cook and stir the mushroom mixture until slightly thickened and bubbly, about 2-3 minutes.
Step 11 –Remove the skillet from the heat.
Step 12 –Stir the spinach, broccoli, carrot, and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese into the mushroom mixture.
Step 13 –In the prepared baking dish, layer 1/3 of the noodles, folding or cutting them to fit as necessary.
Step 14 –Spread 1/3 of the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles in the baking dish.
Step 15 –Add 1/3 of the vegetable mixture to the baking dish.
Step 16 –Sprinkle the vegetable mixture in the baking dish with 1/3 of the mozzarella.
Step 17 –Repeat the layers twice.
Step 18 –Sprinkle the top of the lasagna with the remaining parmesan cheese.
Step 19 –Bake the casserole until heated through, about 35 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes out of the oven.
Step 20 –Serve.
