Vegetarian Lasagna

Last night I made a vegetarian lasagna. I used frozen zucchini from the summer garden, tomato sauce canned over the summer from the garden and herbs from my indoor herb garden. I used cottage cheese, instead of ricotta. I have cottage cheese that I need to use up. I remembered that the lasagna of my childhood had cottage cheese and a google lookup proved that was the standard of the 70’s and 80’s. It turned out really good and my daughter told me she didn’t notice the difference.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups zucchini
• 10 oz frozen spinach
• 24 ounce jar pasta sauce
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

For the filling:

• 1 1/2 cups full fat small curd cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

For the lasagna:

• 9 no boil lasagna noodles
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 8 x 8 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Mine is 8 x 8 because of my use of the countertop oven.

For the sauce and noodles:

1. Defrost frozen vegetables and dry off excess water with paper towel

For the filling:

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the cottage cheese, 2 cups mozzarella, Parmesan cheese, basil, salt and pepper. Set aside.

To layer:

1. Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan. Top with 3 noodles laid lengthwise in the pan. Spread half the cheese on top and the spinach followed by 3 more noodles. Spread half the cheese on top and the zucchini followed by 3 more noodles. Spread the remaining sauce over the noodles. Put foil on pan, bake for 35 minutes. At 35 minutes, add the remaining mozzarella and bake until bubbly.