Kids Cook Monday: Very Veggie Lasagna

A vegetarian lasagna is often not much more than many layers of pasta and cheese. Tasty as that can be, it strikes me as a lot of work for essentially a variation on stove-top mac and cheese, and a missed opportunity to add color, texture and nutritional excitement in the form of vegetables. Therefore, for our most recent Kids Cook Monday cooking class* (in which my daughter and I cook a full meal with a class of adult-child cooking pairs), we made this lasagna which uses two sauces, one with greens and one with red and orange vegetables.

Preparation takes about 45 minutes, followed by a little over an hour of baking, making it a great family dinner project. Many hands make the chopping, stirring and assembly fun and easy, and the hour of oven time can be filled with salad and dessert making (those recipe posts coming up shortly).

Very Veggie Lasagna

Ingredients:

Method:

Preheat oven to 375˚.

Place ½ tablespoon of butter in each of two skillets or sauce pans.

Divide onions evenly between two pans, and sauté until soft and translucent.

Add chopped leeks to one skillet (this will be the greens-ricotta pan).

Divide minced garlic between two pans.

Add sweet potato and ¼ cup of water to other pan (this will be the red sauce pan) and cook until soft.

Drain the greens and squeeze out any excess liquid over the sink. Add greens to greens-ricotta pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes, and turn heat off.

Empty jar of tomato sauce into sweet potato mixture for the red sauce. Add ¼ cup of water to jar, close lid, shake to combine with remaining sauce, and empty jar into pan again. Add Italian spices, and salt and pepper to taste.

Beat 2 eggs in medium-sized bowl, mix in ricotta cheese. Pour into greens-ricotta pan. Add salt, and several grinds of black pepper and nutmeg.

Assembly: In a 9×13 (or similar-sized) baking pan, layer:

¾ cup red sauce

single layer of lasagna pasta (3 pieces)

½ of greens-ricotta mixture

¾ cup red sauce

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

single layer of lasagna pasta (3 pieces)

remaining greens-ricotta mixture

¾ cup red sauce

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

single layer of lasagna pasta (3 pieces)

remaining red sauce

remaining shredded mozzarella cheese

11. Cover with aluminum foil and place in preheated oven. After 1 hour, remove foil to allow cheese on top to brown. Bake for another 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

* For more on the Kids Cook Monday movement, be sure to visit the campaign’s website, pledge to enjoy dinner together as a family at least once a week, and enjoy the recipes posted on this site as part of the “Kids Cook Monday” series.

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