Vegetarian Lasagna

When I was younger, this was a favorite of mine.  My dad used to make lasagna 1/2 vegetarian because my mother doesn't like ground meat.  At first I didn't like that half of the pan; but then I later learned to appreciate it.  When my wife and I were dating, I offered to make this for her parents the first Christmas I stayed at their house.  Like my younger self, her dad was initially leary of this vegetarian lasagna.  But after he ate it, he understood why we like it so much.

I started by sauteing down a bunch of fresh spinach.  You will need more than you think -- probably a whole bag, because it reduces so much when you cook it. Then drain & dry the spinach as much as you can, and chop it finely.

Add this to a large mixing bowl with a package of button mushrooms, sliced into smaller pieces.  I also minced up some black olives this time.  You could leave these out; but I happened to have them on hand and though, "What the heck?"  Next, drain off the liquid out of a mid-sized package of cottage cheese.  Add this to your bowl along with a small amount of some minced garlic.  Stir it all together.

This will be one of the layers of your lasagna.  Start with a large casserole dish and pour about 1 cup of tomato sauce on the bottom.  Then layer uncooked sheets of lasagna pasta.  For those of you who have read  my previous blogs about pasta, I use whole wheat.  Nobody can tell the difference.

Layer half of your spinach, mushroom, cottage cheese mixture on top of the first layer of pasta.

Top this with shredded mozzarella cheese and more tomato sauce.

Add another layer of pasta, then spinach mixture, sauce & cheese, and top with one last layer of pasta.  On top of the last layer of pasta add only the tomato sauce and more cheese.  Then cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.  Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes to make the cheese golden.  Let the lasagna cool for about 10 minutes after you take it out of the oven.  Otherwise all the moisture could run out all over the place, and you might not have as nice of a presentation either.

Give this a shot some time.  I promise you won't even notice there is no meat.  The mushrooms are chewy and hearty, and the spinach and cottage cheese make sure this is a filling meal.  Plus, with all that cheese and pasta ... there's no way you'll leave unsatisfied. 

We had this for dinner, and then I froze the rest in individual tupperwares to give my Grandma.  That way she can heat them up whenever she wants a home-cooked meal.  Enjoy!