My mom has lots of wonderful talents.  However, cooking is not one of them.  In fact, I was talking with a friend the other day & she said she loved having dinner at my house growing up.  I said, “Why, because we had take out?”

Vegetable lasagne was my mom’s culinary anomaly…fresh veggies, no jerkied meat from dad’s grill, no blatant misuse of cilantro.

This recipe is very similar to the one I remember growing up, with yellow squash, zucchini & broccoli, except we roasted the vegetables before layering them up with noodles & cheese, then throwing in a bunch of torn kale.

Roasted eggplant or sautéed mushrooms & spinach could easily be at home in between these cheesy, saucy layers, too.

ROASTED VEGETABLE LASAGNE
serves 8-12

2 zucchini, halved & sliced
1 yellow squash, halved & sliced
1 bunch broccoli, chopped into florets
extra virgin olive oil
salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 lb lasagna noodles
15oz ricotta
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan, divided
salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste
ground or freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
4 cups tomato sauce
4 cups (1lb) shredded mozzarella
1 bunch kale, torn from the ribs

Preheat the oven to 425°.  Line 2 baking sheets with foil & scatter the sliced zucchini & squash in an even layer on one & the broccoli on the other.  Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt & pepper & toss to coat.  Slide in the oven & cook for 20-25 minutes, until the broccoli is golden brown & the zucchini & squash lightly browned & softened.  Once cooked, remove from the oven, set aside to cool slightly.  Turn the oven down to 375°.

While the veggies roast & cool, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook the lasagne according to package directions.  Set up a large bowl of ice water.  Drain the pasta & place it in the ice water to cool.  Once cool, blot the noodles dry.

In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta, eggs, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan, salt & pepper & nutmeg.

Spread a thin layer of sauce across the bottom of a deep 9 x 13 inch pan.  Cover with a layer of noodles, slightly overlapping their edges.  Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture evenly over the top of the noodles.  Sprinkle on 1/4 of the mozzarella & 1/4 of the remaining Parmesan.  Spread 1/3 of the roasted veggies on next and 1/3 of the torn kale on top of them.  Spoon about 3/4 cup of the tomato sauce on next.  So.  Many.  Fractions. Continue this process until there are 4 layers of pasta & 3 layers of filling.  Spread the remaining sauce evenly over the top & cover with the rest of the cheeses.  Cover the pan with foil & bake for 30 minutes.  Uncover & bake for 15-20 minutes more until everything is bubbly & the cheese is golden brown.  Let stand for 15 minutes before digging in.