A Vegetable Lasagna recipe is easy to find on the internet. Everyone will have you cooking dry sheets of pasta, letting them cool correctly, then wrestling with the limp, soggy, wet sheets to create a layered Italian dish.
I’ve taken a long hard look at lasagnas and I think something dramatic has to change. So, I went about changing it. My “new-age” layered and baked dish contains no pasta at all! I’ve created a new vegetable lasagna recipe that is going to blow your minds!
I use thinly sliced vegetables and cheeses layered into a small loaf pan to maximize the great flavor and nutrition of the farm fresh vegetables available to me. Using a chef’s knife or mandoline, I slice yellow squash, green zucchini, eggplant, and tomatoes as thinly as possible. Along with sliced provolone or mozzarella cheeses, I have the basis for my new vegetable lasagna recipe.
Lining my mini loaf pan with parchment paper to assure quick removal after baking, my new way of thinking about lasagna begins with a slice of yellow squash pressed into the bottom of the pan. Then, a slice of provolone cheese, green zucchini, tomato, cheese, eggplant, squash, cheese, tomato, and so on, until the pan is overflowing with stacked slices. I press down firmly to squeeze as many layers as possible.
Of course, there are a lot of possible variations to this new age of vegetable lasagna. I thought about adding tomato sauce or sliced garlic. Perhaps next time I’ll add goat cheese or basil leaves for even more flavor. Since I’m the inventor of this new movement in layered baking, I declare there not be a written recipe for this type of thinking. All incarnations should be simply “inspirations”.
Today’s inspiration of 4 vegetables and two cheeses is removed from the 350F degree oven after about 45 minutes and the loss of much moisture. Quickly turning the mini loaf pan upside down onto a plate and removing my parchment paper, I see the beauty of my creation.
The layers of yellow, green, red, white, and purple are glued together by melting provolone cheese. Topped with marinara sauce, the blanket of red makes it even more appetizing to the eye.
Your vegetable lasagna recipe doesn’t have to include pasta either. Simply thinking of the ingredients you desire can be the inspiration of a new way that a written recipe has never covered before.
Chef Todd Mohr is a classically trained chef, entrepreneur, cooking educator and founder of WebCookingClasses. You can experience his unique approach to no-recipe cooking with his FREE online cooking classes . The 7 minute class will change the way you think about cooking forever.