Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

Ingredients

BOLOGNESE SAUCE First, roast a head of garlic, cloves broken apart, in 2 TBS or more olive oil, for about 30 minutes in a covered pan at 350F. Let cool, peel garlic, save all the oil. Cut in half from top to bottom ten big tomatoes or 20 Romas. Seed the tomato halves, putting seeds and juice into a strainer over a bowl. Set the tomatoes, cut side down, on an aluminum-foil covered roasting pan. When they're all cut, pour the garlicky olive oil over them and roast under the broiler for 8 to 10 minutes. Then turn pan around so other side gets roasted. Let cool, then lift the skins off the tomato halves. Put into a blender the liquid that drained out of the tomato seeds (can use the back of a spoon to press most of it out), the peeled garlic cloves, the tomato halves and any juices and oils left in the roasting pan. Blend till it's smooth. In a good-sized pan, cook three slices of bacon till crisp. Remove bacon and chop finely. Save bacon fat, and saut one small onion, finely minced, one carrot, finely grated, and one stalk of celery, finely minced, until all are soft, about 10 minutes. In another pan, brown 1 lb. lean ground beef, crumbled, until thoroughly cooked. Pour off all fat and drain meat so it's dry. Add to the cooked vegetables, and add the tomato/garlic mixture from the blender. Add 1 3/4 cups chicken broth (I use Better than Bouillon). Simmer for about two hours, stirring every 15 minutes or so. This makes a great sauce that keeps for several days. ROASTED PEPPERS Wash two red peppers and two yellow peppers and put under broiler, turning until all sides, top and bottom are charred. Put into a plastic bag and seal so they steam. When cool, pick off the skin, cut in half, remove seeds and membranes, slice into thin strips. Keep colors separate. MUSHROOMS In olive oil and butter, saut one pound of sliced mushrooms, about 5 slices to the mushroom, not too thin. Save juice. ONIONS Quarter one large red onion lengthwise, then slice each quarter. Brown in olive oil till limp, about 5 minutes, then sprinkle with 1 tsp. sugar and Balsamic vinegar to taste and caramelize. ROAST ZUCCHINI Slice 2 medium zucchinis thinly and arrange on aluminum foil broiler pan. Spray with olive oil. Roast under broiler till cooked, watch so they don't burn. Save aluminum foil. SPINACH Wash half a bunch of fresh spinach, pinch leaves off stems. CHEESES Shred a one pound ball of Mozzarella with a fine grater blade in food processor. Have one pound ricotta, preferably Precious (don't get the Trader Joe's brand, it's too grainy) Shred a bit of parmesan, about 1/2 cup in all. PASTA Buy an 8 oz package of American Beauty or American Rose or whatever the cheap brand is, but shake to be sure there are no broken pieces. ASSEMBLY Use a 9x13' Pyrex glass baking dish. Put at least one cup of sauce in the bottom, spread it out, then pour in any remaining liquid from the mushrooms. Rinse each noodle under the hot water faucet, then arrange a layer across the bottom of the dish, using 1/3 the noodles. Spread 1/3 the ricotta across the noodles, covering them completely (can use hands to spread it to a very fine layer). Sprinkle 1/3 the mozzarella, and 1/3 the parmesan. Arrange half the zucchini strips, then half the peppers. I alternate red and yellow, so it looks pretty. Sprinkle half the mushrooms and half the onions. Spread half the spinach leaves across everything. Cover with about 1/3 the remaining sauce. Repeat with the next 1/3 noodles, being sure to rinse them in hot water first, both sides and the edges. Repeat the vegetables and cheeses. Top with final 1/3 noodles, the remaining sauce and the cheeses. If it seems too much to fit the pan, press down after the spinach layers but before you put the sauce on. Wrap completely in aluminum foil. I use the roasting pan, which should still be fairly clean, lay a big piece of foil on it, position the lasagna in the middle, and then use the other piece of foil, that was used for roasting, as a top piece. You need to tent it over the pan so that the foil never touches the cheese or sauce (tomatoes will eat holes in aluminum foil). Fold the edges all around to seal. Steam is very important in making a no-boil lasagna. Bake for at least one hour at 400F This can be assembled the day before, but if baking it from the refrigerator, it will take 1.5 hours to cook. Keeps well if there are leftovers

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