Fresh Vegetable Lasagna Recipe

When the tomatoes are ripe and your kitchen has an abundance, what should you do?  Well, tonight, I didn't feel like canning, so I opted to make a fresh vegetable lasagna.  Here's my recipe.

Ingredients

• 4 to 5 pounds of fresh tomatoes, chopped (more are needed if they are slicers)
• 1 large onion, diced
• olive oil
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable stock or 2 vegetable bouillon cubes
• 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced into large pieces
• 3 cloves chopped, fresh garlic
• 1/2 large cauliflower, chopped into chunks
• 2-6 oz fresh basil
• 4 cups whole, fresh spinach leaves
• 2 large sweet peppers or 6 small ones, chopped into medium pieces
• 2 tablespoons Italian herbs
• "oven ready" or "no-boil" lasagna pasta
• 16 oz ricotta cheese
• 10 oz grated mozzarella cheese

Dice the onion and chop the tomatoes in a food processor. 

Then saute onions in a heavy cast iron pan with olive oil, and add the diced tomatoes.

Now add the salt and vegetable stock.  Now simmer to reduce the water content for 20 to 35 minutes until it thickens into a sauce with about 3-4 cups of liquid remaining.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

 Saute mushrooms and garlic with olive oil in a cast iron pan until golden brown.

Now add the following into the tomato sauce:

• mushrooms and garlic
• peppers
• spinach
• basil

Now mix it all together and you are ready to layer your dish! 

You will need a very large lasagna pan, or two medium sized ones.  First place a layer of pasta, then sauce, then use half of the  ricotta cheese.  Repeat with pasta, sauce, ricotta and top with the mozzaralla cheese. 

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 400 for 30 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes until brown.

Top with fresh basil and serve.