Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 oz. dried porcini mushrooms
• 1 15 oz. container ricotta cheese
• 2 eggs
• ¼ t. fresh grated nutmeg
• ¼ t. ground white pepper
• (or use ½ t. French Four spice instead of nutmeg and pepper)
• 1/8 C. water
• ½ lb. broccoli florets, snapped into 1-2 inch pieces
• 1 lb. zucchini, sliced in half long-ways, then cut into ½-1 inch pieces
• 4 T. olive oil, divided
• 3-4 shallots, chopped
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lb. crimini or portabella mushrooms, sliced
• 3 T. dry white wine
• 1 T. soy sauce or liquid aminos
• 2 t. fresh or ¾ t. dried thyme
• salt and pepper
• ½ C. coarsely chopped parsley
• 3 C. your favorite basic marinara sauce (plenty of tomatoes, easy on onion and herbs)
• 7-8 oz. no-boil lasagna noodles
• ½-1 C. grated Parmesan
• ground black pepper or crushed red pepper flakes

Equipment Needed: large, sturdy baking sheet, 9’X13’ baking pan

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Cover dried mushrooms with 1 C. boiling water, let stand for 30 minutes. Strain rehydrated mushrooms, reserving liquid, and chop mushrooms if large. Set mushrooms aside. Strain mushroom liquid through coffee filter to remove any grit, set ½ C. of mushroom liquid aside.
3. In separate bowl, blend ricotta, eggs, spices and water, mix until smooth.
4. Toss broccoli and zucchini with 2 T. olive oil, spread on baking sheet, roast in oven for 15 minutes, stirring once to ensure even browning. Remove from oven, reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
5. Heat remaining 2 T. oil in deep skillet over medium heat, saute shallots and garlic until tender, 3-5 minutes. Add fresh and reconstituted mushrooms, saute 7-10 minutes, until beginning to give up their liquid. Add wine, soy sauce or liquid aminos, thyme and reserved mushroom liquid to skillet, increase heat to high and continue to cook until nearly dry, so that all the liquids glaze the shallots and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then mix in parsley.
6. Spray bottom and sides of baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Spread ¼ C. marinara sauce in bottom of baking pan. Top with a layer of lasagna noodles. Top the noodles with a thin layer of ricotta, then a layer of roasted and glazed vegetables, more tomato sauce and a sprinkling of Parmesan. Repeat twice more, and end with a layer of lasagna noodles topped with tomato sauce, Parmesan and either ground black pepper or crushed red pepper flakes.
7. Cover baking pan tightly with foil, and bake for 40 minutes, until the noodles are tender. Uncover and bake another 10 minutes. Remove from oven, let sit 10-15 minutes before serving.

Recipe inspired by Martha Rose Shullman from the NYTimes “Well Blog.”