Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

Total Time: 1 hr 25 mins Preparation Time: 40 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 10
• 1 cup onion (diced)
• 1 cup celery (diced)
• 3 tablespoons garlic (minced)
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (crushed)
• 3 cups cherry tomatoes
• 28 ounces pasta sauce (your favorite brand)
• 2 tablespoons oregano or 2 tablespoons parsley or 2 tablespoons basil or 2 tablespoons rosemary
• 2 medium eggplants (not peeled)
• 2 zucchini
• 2 yellow squash
• 5 carrots (peeled)
• 1 lb asparagus
• 2 red bell peppers
• 4 cups cheese or 5 cups silken tofu
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Recipe

• 1 in a large pot add 2 tsps olive oil - add onions, celery, garlic and cook till onions are transparent. add pepper flakes and tomatoes and simmer over low heat. add your pasta sauce, herbs and continue to simmer while you create the remainder of the dish.
• 2 take eggplant and slice horizontally (all vegetables are done on horizontal cuts) slicing approximately 1/4" thick - place in a large dish cover with kosher salt and place a layer of plastic wrap over top of the eggplant - place a heavy object on top to weight the eggplant. leave this until you can see a remarkable amount of fluids at the bottom of the dish. approximately 50 minutes to and hour and a half. wash the eggplant and pat dry - this is what is known as blanching or proofing your eggplant - it removes any bitterness the eggplant may have.
• 3 cut the remainder of your vegetables - zucchini, squash and carrots in the same horizontal fashion approximately 1/4" thick. along with the asparagus - place all of your vegetables in a large bowl and cover with a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. the red peppers can be roasted whole and then cleaned and cut into segments after grilling. preheat your grill (indoor or outdoor - if using outdoor i sometimes try to add some hickory or mesquite smokiness to it) the grill should be close to 400 degrees -- place all of the vegetables on the grill - turning after 4-5 minutes or until a nice char has been made. remove vegetables to a sheet pan to cool.
• 4 take the asparagus and cut into 1 inch pieces and place in your sauce.
• 5 in a large 8 x 13 baking pan add 1/2 cup of your sauce to the bottom of the dish and spread evenly over the bottom. arrange your eggplant over the bottom of the dish (these are used in place of any lasagna noodles that you would use in regular lasagna).
• 6 using one half of your vegetables (except the zucchini and squash) layer them over top of the eggplant - using 1/3 of your sauce cover with sauce and then with the cheese. your next layer will be the zucchini and squash. repeat with your roasted vegetables - sauce and cheese - bake in 350 degree oven until cheese is bubbling and melted -- enjoy!