My Homemade Vegetable Lasagna. So Good!

My Vegetable Lasagna is so good I had to share. I hope you try this one and tell me if you do. It's packed with lots of veggies, creamy goodness and I guarantee your taste buds will enjoy it.

You will need a Casserole dish or Large Pyrex dish.

Pasta: About 12-16 lasagna noddles depending on the size of your dish, cooked and ready to assemble. (I used Whole Wheat Lasagna Noodles)

Cheeses:

- 2 Cups Low Fat Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
- 1 Cup of Grated Parisian Cheese

Bread Crumbs:
- 1/2 Cup Italian Style Bread Crumbs for the top.

Filling:
- 1 Diced Yellow Onion
- 1 Cup Diced Carrots
- 1 Cup Diced Celery
- 3 cloves of Garlic
- 1 or 2 Large Diced Zucchini or more if they are small
- 1/2 Cup Sweet Corn (I prefer to use frozen)
- 1/2 Cup Peas (Prefer Frozen)
- 1 Cup Frozen Chopped Spinach or 2-3 cups fresh
- 2 Tablespoons of EVOO
- 1 Tablespoon of Italian Seasoning
- 1 tsp of Mrs. Dash
- Salt and Pepper to Taste

Bechamel White Cream Sauce:
- 4 Tablespoons Butter or Margarine
- 1/4 Cup of Flour
- 3 Cups of Milk
- Salt and Pepper to Taste
- 1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese (part of the above mentioned full Cup)

Begin by starting your water to boil Noodles.

Then Chop up all of your veggies and set aside. In a large pan heat EVOO on Medium High Heat, add Garlic then Onions, Celery and Carrots. These veggies are know as the Holy Trinity of Cooking! These are the first to cook because they take the longest. And make for a great flavor base. I want tender veggies not mushy ones so saute until onions are transparent.

After they cook a few minutes add your Zucchini, then the rest of the veggies. Add your Italian Seasoning, Mrs. Dash, Salt and Pepper cook about 10 minutes for all to become soft and for the flavors to come together. Turn off the heat and let cool.

Next dump pasta in boiling salted water. Cool to al dente, drain and cool so you can handle.

In a large sauce pan begin to melt butter on medium heat, and flour and make a rue. Once the paste has the flour cooked through. Whisk in the milk. Continue to whisk and incorporate Rue with milk. Sauce will slowly come together. Add 1/2 cup of Parmesan Cheese, Salt and Pepper and stir. Once it coats the back of a spoon turn off the heat.

Assembly Time!
Start by coating the bottom of your pan with a little Bechamel. About 1/2 cup. This prevents sticking. Then layer 3-4 noodles. Use about 1/3 of the filling and spread over noodles. Pour about 1/3 of the left over Bechamel on top and them sprinkle about 1 handful of Mozzarella cheese on. Layer with more noodles and repeat until last layer is done. You should have a majority of the cheese left to really make the top cheesy. Last Sprinkle the Italian Bread Crumbs and 1/2 Cup of Parmesan cheese on top.

Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Then let it cool a bit before serving. Feel free to add in different vegetable, like mushrooms, eggplant or any thing you have that you like.  The filling is so flexible that's one of the good things about it. Remove what you don't like and put more in of what you do.

Bon Appetite!