Vegetarian Lasagna
Is a vegetarian diet the same as a vegan diet? We have always heard the term vegetarian, but more recently we started to hear about "vegans", are they synonyms? Well, vegetarians exclude meat, poultry, and seafood from their diet while vegans take it a step further excluding all type of animal products like milk or eggs.
Therefore the proliferation of plant-based products such as almond milk and yogurt, coconut milk ice cream, olive oil spreads, avocado mayo, among many others.
This is a vegetarian lasagna because I used butter and cheese, but it could easily be a vegan lasagna if you use the respective substitutes.
What do you need?
Filling
1 Zucchini (small)
1 Eggplant (medium)
1 Tbsp. Parsley
1 Tsp. Butter
1/2 Tsp. Garlic (crushed)
1/4 Tsp. Oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Lasagna
2 Spinach lasagna pasta sheets
1/2 Cup marinara sauce
1/2 Cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/3 Cup ricotta cheese
4 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese
1 Tsp. Butter
What to do?
Start by making the filling first. Cut the zucchini and eggplant in small cubes
Heat a non-stick pan and grease with the butter
Start sauteing the vegetables and add the salt and pepper to help them dehydrate. Cook for about 5 or 6 minutes
Once vegetables are soft add the garlic and the parsley and cook for another minute or so and set aside (always add the garlic last because it burns quickly)
In a medium pot boil water on high heat. Once the water is boiling add salt and cook the paste "al dente" (check box for cooking time). Lay on a plate and let the pasta cool down before using
Pre-heat the oven at 400 F degrees
Take an oven-safe dish and grease with butter
Measure all the ingredients and place them in order to assemble the lasagna
Cut each of the pasta sheets in two pieces
I like starting my lasagna with pasta, so arrange the pasta on your dish
Ladle three spoonfuls of the veggie filling, two spoons of the marinara sauce, ricotta cheese and parmesan cheese
Repeat until you have 4 layers of pasta
Cover the last layer with the remaining marinara sauce, scatter the mozzarella and the parmesan cheese over the top
Bake for about 10 minutes until the cheeses are melted and browned
Voila!
Tips, variations & more:
Mia doesn't like burned cheese, but if you do just broil the lasagna for about 6 minutes
This side dish gives me 5 servings for Mia