Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna
Recipe adapted from a For the Love of Cooking recipe and a Self Magazine recipe
Makes 4 Servings

½ pound tomatoes, cut in ¼ inch slices
½ pound zucchini, cut in ¼ inch slices
½ pound yellow squash, cut in ¼ inch slices
½ red bell pepper, cut in 1-inch strips
½ yellow or green bell pepper, cut in 1 inch strips
¼ pound mushroom caps, cut in ¼ inch slices
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp olive oil
2 - 4 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 to 1 ½ cups spinach
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Salt and black pepper, to taste
400 grams fat-free ricotta cheese
1 egg
2 tbsp parmesan cheese
6 no-boil lasagna noodles
130 grams mozzarella cheese, shredded (divided)
3 cups low-calorie spaghetti sauce (1 28 oz. jar)

Preheat oven to 475. Toss tomatoes, zucchini, squash, peppers, mushrooms, salt, garlic and oil in a bowl. Place vegetables on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Spray cooking spray over top of vegetables. Roast for 22 minutes, until golden brown. In a medium-sized bowl, add ricotta, egg, 60 grams of mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Combine until mixed thoroughly. Layer an 8 x 8 inch baking pan with one cup spaghetti sauce. Lay two noodles on top. Spread half of ricotta mixture on the noodles. Then spoon half of vegetable mixture on top and finish by layering on spinach leaves. Repeat with one cup sauce, two noodles, remainder of ricotta mixture, remainder of vegetable mixture and remainder of spinach leaves. Top with last two noodles. Then top with remaining sauce and remaining 70 grams of cheese. Bake covered** in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes.

**This really fills the dish, so make sure you spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray and place spray-side down over the top so that it doesn't stick to the cheese.

Nutritional information: 423 calories, 48 carbs, 13 fat grams and 29 protein grams.

Review: Seriously? I've never made this before?! What?! Loved it. Austin said it was fantastic, and he didn't miss the meat. It was a perfect blend of veggies and cheeses - it was OOZING cheese - fantastic. I loved the roasted veggies, too. It really added so much to this dish (over sautéing them, I think!). Next time, I could see myself doubling the veggies, then using half over quinoa and then half for this lasagna - I would just hate to not roast more now that I now how awesome they come out! And while this does occupy your oven for a bit of time between the roasting and cooking, if you're pre-cooking other meals you could easily be cooking on the stove or in a slowcooker, or prepping for your other meals on the cutting board!

pic of whole pan