Veggie Lasagna

Don't knock it till you've tried it. This was a really easy lasagna recipe without any meat. Although, you could very easily add meat to it if you like. I conveniently left out the word "Veggie" from my meal plan posted on the fridge, and my husband never even realized the meat was missing. This recipe is a little different, considering it calls for green beans in the lasagna. But, in my family, we always ate green beans as a side dish with spaghetti, so it wasn't as much of a stretch for me.

Veggie Lasagna

9 uncooked lasagna noodles

1 egg

1 egg white

1 15oz. caton reduced fat ricotta cheese

2 tsp. dried parsley flakes

1 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. pepper

4 cups garden style spaghetti sauce

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 or 2 cans cut green beans, drained (add as little as one can or as much as two)

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the eggs, egg whites, ricotta cheese, parsley, basil, oregano, and pepper; set aside. In a 13x9x2 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray, spread 1 cup spaghetti sauce. Drain noodles; place three noodles over spaghetti sauce. Layer with half of the ricotta mixture, 1 cup spaghetti sauce, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, three lasagna noodles, and the green beans. Top with the remaining ricotta mixture, 1 cup spaghetti sauce, remaining lasagna noodles, spaghetti sauce, and mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over each. Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until bubbly and edges are lightly browned. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Notes: This really was a good dish, but I had to make some changes to it. I went to buy the garden style Ragu spaghetti sauce, but after reading the ingredients, I realized it had mushrooms in it. I swear my husband can smell mushrooms from a mile away, and he hates them. So, I settled for the Ragu Chunky Tomato, Onion, and Garlic sauce. It had great flavor, but it wasn't very chunky, and there was a distinct lacking of veggies in my veggie lasagna, except for the green beans. I think I will definately try this again, but I'm going to saute some green peppers and onions, and add them to the spaghetti sauce.