Cheddar Vegetable Lasagna

Cheddar Vegetable Lasagna (Servings: 8-10, Total Time: 1 hour – 1 hour, 15 min.)

(adapted from KraftRecipes.com)

Not your typical lasagna dish, but good flavors and a mix of texture make it a good meal.  I would like to see a little more protein, but that is easily fixed by adding some faux sausage or burger crumbles.  The original recipe does not tell you where to add the cheddar cheese, so I added it in two places!

Ingredients

½ lb. mushrooms, diced

¼ cup margarine, divided

3-3 ½ cups shredded carrots

½ cup chopped onion

¼ cup flour

½ tsp. salt

Dash of pepper

2 ½ cups milk

1 container (16 oz.) Cottage Cheese

1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained

9 lasagna noodles

2 cups Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

½ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1.)    Preheat oven to 350°F.

2.)    Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions.

3.)    Cook and stir mushrooms in 1 Tbsp. margarine in a large skillet on medium-high heat until tender. Remove from skillet; set aside.

4.)    Add remaining margarine, then carrots and onions to skillet. Cook and stir 5 min. or until carrots are tender. Reduce heat to medium.

5.)    Blend in flour and seasonings. Gradually add milk; cook, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and thickens. Stir in mushrooms and 1 cup cheddar cheese.

6.)    Combine cottage cheese, spinach, and 1 cup cheddar cheese.

7.)    Place 3 of the noodles on bottom of greased 13x9-inch baking dish; top with one-third each of the cottage cheese and the carrot mixtures. Cover with 3 more noodles and one-third each of the cottage cheese and carrot mixtures. Top with the remaining 3 noodles and remaining cottage cheese and carrot mixtures. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

8.)    Bake 30 min. or until heated through. Sprinkle with parsley. Let stand a few minutes before cutting to serve.

The carrots and onion add a little crunch to the texture, but the lasagna is otherwise a very soft consistency.  The original recipe called for 4 cups of carrots, but that seemed like way too much.  I recommend 3-3 ½ cups in my adapted version, but that is all up to you and what you and your family like. 

I didn’t have 9 lasagna noodles, so I only used 6 and layered half and half of the mixtures.  The dish came out bubbly and cheesy-looking.  The fat content is high because of the shredded cheddar, but if you use 2%, that can eliminate some unnecessary fat and calories from this dish without affecting the taste.  Also, I found that you don’t necessarily need the butter to cook the mushrooms or carrots.  I actually didn’t add any additional butter to the cook the carrots and they turned out just fine.  This dish is a great way to sneak in some vegetables because of the cheesy goodness that encases them.  Enjoy!