Phenomenal Phoods

Dutch Oven Vegetarian Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 yellow onion (diced)
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 cup baby bella mushrooms (sliced)
• 1 zucchini (chopped or thinly sliced)
• 1 yellow squash (chopped or thinly sliced)
• 1 carrot (peeled and chopped)
• 3 cups fresh spinach
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 3 cups tomatoes (chopped (you can also used canned, diced tomatoes))
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1/2 cup fresh basil
• 1 1/2 cups ricotta or cottage cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 8-9 lasagna sheets

Instructions:

1. Heat olive oil in your dutch oven or large, oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add onion and garlic to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes until onions start to soften.
3. Add mushrooms, zucchini, squash and carrot as well as half of the seasonings (salt, pepper, red pepper, Italian seasoning). Cook for another 3 minutes until veggies are tender when pierced with a fork.
4. Add spinach and lemon juice and cook for another 3 minutes until spinach is wilted.
5. Scoop veggies into a bowl and set aside.
6. Add the tomatoes and remaining seasonings to the same dutch oven or skillet over medium heat.
7. Cook until tomatoes are soft. Stir in the basil. At this point, you can blend the sauce using either a blender or an immersion blender to make it smooth. You can also leave it chunky if you'd prefer.
8. Transfer sauce to a separate bowl and set aside. Remove your dutch oven from the heat.
9. Combine the ricotta cheese, egg and parmesan cheese.
10. Spread a third of your tomato sauce on the bottom of the dutch oven. Top with a layer of lasagna noodles, breaking them to fit the pan as needed.
11. Top with half of the ricotta cheese mixture and half of the veggie mixture. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the mozzarella.
12. Add the next third of your tomato sauce. Top with another layer of lasagna noodles and then the remaining half of the ricotta mixture and the remaining veggies. Sprinkle with another 1/2 cup of the mozzarella.
13. Top with one more layer of lasagna noodles, the remaining third of your tomato sauce and sprinkle with the last 1/2 cup of the mozzarella.
14. Return the pot to medium-low heat. Cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes until lasagna noodles are cooked al dente.
15. While the lasagna is simmering, heat the broiler on your oven. Broil the cooked lasagna for 2-3 minutes until the cheese is browned and bubbly on top.
16. Serve with fresh basil or parsley.