Too Hot for the Oven. Crockpot Vegetable Lasagna Day.

My husband invited some friends over tonight. Ahhh! I didn't want to turn the oven on. Also, my dear sweet husband asked, "How about lasagna or pizza or anything Italian?". Hmmm...Italian without the oven? I then remembered my friend making lasagna using her crock pot.

I was up for the challenge and gathered all the vegetables in my fridge and chopped away. I did have to use the stove top to saute the vegetables and onions in garlic and Smart Balance butter. That didn't take too long, and it beat turning on the oven. I had to use cottage cheese instead of ricotta. At least it made it a little healthier. I was tempted to use the tofu I had, but didn't want to scare away our meat-eating-guests from coming over next time. Chopped spinach and fresh basil and thyme were added to the cottage cheese mix along with one egg. Luckily I had some delicious fresh mozzarella on hand and added freshly grated Parmesan for the cheese layer. I also used a can of Trader Joe's Marinara sauce. I usually love making my own sauce, but the clock was ticking and I ran out of the canned tomatoes and tomato sauce. The layering was easy: sauce, uncooked noodles, cottage cheese mix, vegetables, mozzarella/Parmesan mix, and repeat. Topping it off with more mozzarella. It took about 3 hours on medium heat to cook.



Crockpot Vegetable Lasagna

2 Tablespoons Smart Balance Butter
1-2 cloves garlic
1/2 large onion
1 Italian squash
1 yellow squash
1 carrot, diced
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground peppercorn
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup fresh basil
1 thyme sprig
1-2 cups chopped spinach
2 cups cottage cheese or ricotta
1 egg
1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
4-5 cups of homemade sauce or your favorite canned spaghetti sauce. I used the large can of Trader Joe's Marinara sauce. I wish I had more sauce to add to the recipe.
3 cups mozzarella cheese
1 box of UNCOOKED lasagna noodles (I prefer whole wheat). Don't cook the noodles. They will cook in the crock pot.

In medium skillet brown onion and garlic in butter on med-high heat. Then add chopped vegetables and saute until soft.

Then mix cottage cheese with one egg, and add Parmesan, chopped spinach, chopped basil, thyme, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes.

Set crock pot to medium and ladle some sauce on the bottom. Next layer noodles (break them up if you have to make them fit the bottom). Then add cottage cheese layer. Add vegetable layer and top with mozzarella cheese. Repeat. Once last noodle layer is placed finish by pouring a generous amount of sauce and a generous amount of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese on top.

Cook for 4-6 hours. My lasagna finished in about 3 hours. Each crock pot is different so make sure you check on it. You don't want it to start burning around the edges.

For dessert I made a cool and refreshing creamsicle pie. It's a frozen pie that is delicious on a sweltering hot day. Recipe here.

Everything turned out delicious and I didn't have to break a sweat.