I made this last night because my vegetarian brother-in-law and his family joined us to celebrate jonbaker's birthday. Jonathan loves my lasagna, and it's a great sukkah meal. To my surprise, my sister-in-law, who doesn't seem to eat at all, had seconds.

Because of kashrut, I have a choice between a lasagna with meat but no cheese and one with cheese but no meat. I like meat just fine, but it's not lasagna without cheese.

Anyway, my sister-in-law requested the recipe, so here it is:


Vegetarian Lasagna

For sauce:

One large onion, chopped (1" pieces)
One red or green pepper, chopped
1.5 cup (about one container) fresh white mushrooms, sliced fine
1/2 lb frozen chopped spinach
1 12oz can tomato paste
Olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped/pressed/sliced thin (your choice)
Italian seasoning
Optional: red pepper flakes
bay leaves
Black pepper
Salt
Balsamic vinegar


Saute the first three ingredients in the olive oil (in a large frying pan) until soft and the onions are translucent. Add bay leaves, garlic and seasonings. Add the frozen spinach and a 1/4 cup of water. Simmer until the spinach is thawed. Add the can of tomato paste and a can of water. Stir until all combbined, and then add more seasonings and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Add rather more herbs than you think necessary, as the cheese will overpower a little. Simmer until thick.

Meanwhile, make the riccota cheese mixture

Ricotta cheese mixture:

1 8oz container part-skim ricotta cheese
1 egg
One clove of garlic, grated or pressed
Italian seasoning
Black pepper

Place all ingredients in large bowl and combine.

Assembly:
Sauce
Ricotta cheese
1 lb of grated mozzarella cheese
One box no-boil lasagna noodles (or cook a box of regular lasagna noodles until the noodles are *just* flexible - maybe 2-3 minutes. Drain well.)

Preheat oven to 375F.

Put a thin layer of sauce (I use a soup ladle for this, so one ladle-full) on the bottom of the lasagna pan. Then - one layer of noodles, 1/4 of the the ricotta mixture, 1/4 of the sauce (about two ladle-fulls) so that it covers all of the noodles and 1/4 of the mozzarella. Repeat until you've made four complete layers. Place in oven for about 45 minutes, or until the mozzarella cheese on top is brown.