Kendra’s Veggie Harvest Lasagna

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I created this recipe when I was trying to come up with a vegetarian entree for a recent Thanksgiving potluck. It’s a twist on traditional lasagna that features seasonal vegetable and bit of pumpkin.  It was a hit at the potluck, and my six-year-old gobbled it up as well. This recipe can be easily adapted to suit your family’s dietary needs. If your family is gluten-free, thin slices of eggplant baked in the oven until tender can be a nice substitute for noodles.  If you are avoiding dairy, you could crumble tofu in place of the cottage cheese and use tomato sauce or vegan pesto sauce instead of the Alfredo sauce I used.  Vegan cheese could be subbed in for the mozzarella and parmesan. Enjoy!

Ingredients

     Noodles

  • 12 oz box of oven ready lasagna noodles (the kind that don’t have to be cooked in advance)harvest lasagna ingredients pumpkin

     Filling

  • 1-16 oz container cottage cheese
  • 1-15 oz can pumpkin
  • 2 eggs
  • ¼ cup parsley finely chopped
  • 1-24 oz jar Alfredo sauce (hold back a few tablespoons for the top of the lasagna)
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • ½ onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • 2 cups raw chard (chopped) and kale (removed from stalk and chopped)
  • ½ cup mixed vegetables (I used leftover cauliflower and broccoli)
  • ½ delicata squash, peeled and cubed

     Cheese

  • 1 cup mozzarella cheesHarvest Lasagna
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

 Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. In a large bowl, combine cottage cheese, pumpkin, eggs, parsley, and the Alfredo sauce.
  3. Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent, then add the chard, kale, squash, and mixed vegetables. Continue to saute until the greens have wilted and the squash is soft but not squishy.
  4. Combine the vegetable mixture with the rest of the filling and allow it to cool for a few minutes.
  5. On the bottom of a 9” by 13” pan, spread one third of the mixture then layer four noodles on top. Add another third of the filling mixture on top of the noodles and add 1/3 cup of the mozzarella cheese.  Top with noodles.  Layer one more time with the last bit of filling and 1/3 cup mozzarella.  Top with noodles. 
    Add the Alfredo sauce to the top of the lasagna and add the rest of the mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan cheese.
  6. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 50-55 minutes until the lasagna noodles are tender and the cheese is completely melted and starting to b
    rown.
  7. Let the lasagna cool for 10 minutes before serving.
  8. Refrigerate any leftovers.

 

Featured image photo credit: Flickr

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Kendra
Aside from being a writer, Kendra is a Birth Trauma Doula at KarysMa Birth, where she helps moms find their joy after birth trauma. A former middle school English and theatre teacher, she has an insatiable love for learning and a flair for the dramatic. Among the best moments of her life, she counts marrying her husband Steve during a dream rainbow wedding, planning a princess picnic on the beach with her eight year old daughter Karys, giving birth to her one year old daughter Saryn in the middle of a blizzard, and sitting on stage with Glennon Doyle. A Navy brat for the first 13 years of her life, Kendra settled in Virginia for eighteen years before she was finally ready to move again, relocating to Portland in 2014. You can find her work on Portland Moms Blog, The La Leche League Blog, and The Not Your Average Mom Project, as well as the hard drive of her computer.