Homemade Vegetable Layered Lasagna
Looking to spice up your pasta night? Four vegetable fillings stuffed between three gorgeous layers of pasta.
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We all know that lasagna is the most exciting thing to come out of mom’s oven, and today’s no exception. We are getting jiggy with the flavors by combining FOUR delicious fillings including two OG components and two new unconventional components.
Cooking as a profession is all about learning how to cheat the recipe. I’ve said it once, and it bears repeating. You will learn my favorite techniques for an easy more approachable lasagna, even if we are making homemade pasta. This leads me to my next part. We are going to make our own lasagna noodles in this recipe, as this serves our cooking classes at our Seattle location Table for 12, but if you’d like to use store-bought I won’t tell anyone. First tip — don’t waste your time boiling then shocking your noodles, just dip them in a hot water bath then assemble.
I like to start by mixing all my fillings, so when it’s time to build all my components are ready. There are four ambitious fillings here: spinach and ricotta, tomato marinara, butternut squash and goat cheese, and spicy roasted red pepper sauce.
Start with your tomato sauce. Contrary to popular belief, tomato sauces don’t actually need that much time to simmer and stew. You start with your base flavor components, your chili flakes and minced raw garlic, and then letting the sauce reduce after adding the crushed tomato. A right of passage when making a good tomato sauce is rinsing the can with some water to preserve all the tomato sauce. Let this be the water your reduce in your tomato sauce, like adding water to a pasta sauce. This water helps to remove any can or “tin” like flavor from the tomato and helps the flavors of the garlic and chili distribute through the sauce. Twenty minutes is all you need!
Take your time with layering your lasagna. This is the best part! Start with a layer of sauce at the bottom, then layer your noodles like paper mache. Spread your fillings one by one using an offset spatula to theraputically spread them to each corner. You can sprinkle some cheese on each layer and you can even sprinkle some cheese on yourself. Remember, this is your lasagna, you do what YOU want. Tuck your lasagna in and give it a kiss!
DON’T WORRY IF YOUR LASAGNA NOODLES DON’T STRETCH THE LENGTH OF THE PAN OR OVERLAP.
Crust, Crust, Crust! Just like brownies, the crust on your lasagna is arguably the best part. The sides in the 9×13 retain the most heat, so give those corners some love. Get some cheese around the edges to get all crispy crunchetty and watch your tomato sauce get deeply caramelized and jammy.
Let your lasagna rest before cutting and enjoy!
Homemade Vegetable Layered Lasagna
Diet: Vegetarian
Watch How It's Made
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For fresh pasta:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- A pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup Parmigiano cheese, finely grated
- 8 oz. grated mozzarella
For the tomato sauce:
- 28 oz. crushed tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup yellow onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 fresh basil stems
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
For spinach filling:
- 2 whole eggs
- 2 lbs. whole milk ricotta
- 12 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed
- 1/2 cup Parmigiano cheese, finely grated
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
For squash filling:
- 5 cups butternut squash, peeled and diced
- 1/2 cup goat cheese
- 3 - 4 thyme sprigs
- Olive oil, for drizzling
For roasted pepper sauce:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup red onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 red bell peppers, roasted and diced
- 1/4 cup Calabrian chili paste
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
Directions:
- In a bowl, combine the pasta dough ingredients until a soft dough comes together.
- Dump the soft pasta dough bowl onto the bench and gently knead the pasta dough until the dough pushes back. Use more bench flour if the dough is too tacky. Cover with a bowl and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
- Cut the pasta dough into workable pieces and run it through the pasta machine until you’ve reached size 7 on an even pasta sheet. Lay pasta sheets out on the table with a light dusting of flour over finished pasta sheets. Cut pasta into 6 even lasagna sheets.
- In a bowl, combine the ricotta, squeezed spinach, eggs, parmesan cheese, nutmeg, and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 400° F.
- Roast butternut squash on a sheet tray with olive oil, fresh thyme sprigs, salt, and pepper for 15 minutes or until tender. Remove thyme sprigs from the pan.
- Use the back of a fork to mash the butternut squash on the sheet tray, then sprinkle over goat cheese and gently combine.
- Prepare the tomato sauce in a pot over medium heat with olive oil, onion, garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook until the onions turn translucent and the garlic starts to smell fragrant. Add tomato sauce and basil stems to the pan and reduce heat to low. Let sauce simmer for 15 - 18 minutes. Let cool.
- In a saute pan, over medium-high heat, add olive oil, red peppers, and garlic to the pan until the garlic smells fragrant. Add calabrian chilis to the pan and remove from heat. Season the mixture with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Blend in a high-speed blender, using extra water as needed.
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, then remove from heat. Add pasta sheets to the boiling water and let sit for 1 minute in the hot water before draining.
- Assemble lasagna in a 9x13 pan with a dollop of tomato sauce at the bottom, then drape with two par-cooked lasagna sheets. Layer first with the squash mixture, then top with roasted red pepper sauce, drape another two sheets of pasta and spread the spinach and ricotta mixture over with half of the remaining tomato sauce, finish with one more layer of pasta, and spread the remaining tomato sauce over. Finish with grated parmesan and grated mozzarella.
- Bake for 40 minutes covered with aluminum foil, then remove the foil for the last 10 minutes of baking, until the cheese is all bubbly and gooey. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
- Note: You can substitute store-bought lasagna noodles for the homemade pasta. Bakes the same!