Veggie lasagna hearty enough for winter

A few months ago, I put a request in my Recipe Swap column for vegetable lasagna.

I should have known that I needed to be more specific. Instead of one or two recipes, I got about a dozen. And although what I really had in mind was a spinach lasagna — maybe with some mushrooms — I got that and more, including recipes with zucchini, carrots, butternut squash and black beans.

The variety was impressive, and I couldn't choose just one.

I ended up stashing the recipes over the holidays, but I pulled them out this month. I realized that these are great cold-weather recipes, and some of them are lighter than typical meat lasagnas, especially with lower-fat options such as cottage cheese.

The last recipe I received just the other week was from Ashley Haynes. She wrote asking me to include more vegetarian and vegan recipes in the paper. When I mentioned that I was working on a lasagna story, she sent me a vegan recipe.

This recipe, from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's book "Appetite for Reduction," uses a combination of roasted cauliflower and tofu to simulate ricotta cheese. It has spinach and tomato sauce. But I particularly liked the topping of black olives to punch up the flavor.

Nancy Nelson sent in a recipe that she adapted from Family Circle magazine. It uses zucchini and yellow squash, but roasts them with red pepper and onion to boost their flavor. "We tried this recipe recently for some vegetarian company, and even the carnivores enjoyed it," Nelson wrote.

A little béchamel or white sauce helps hold everything together and replaces the ricotta layer in Nelson's lasagna.

Kathleen Rohde's recipe does without ricotta, too. She uses nonfat cottage cheese to keep the calories in check. She and her husband don't care for zucchini, so she filled her lasagna with carrots, mushrooms, green pepper and spinach. "After lots of experimentation, this one is the one we liked best," she wrote.

Lara Schantz of Clemmons sent in a recipe for black bean lasagna. Sometimes called Mexican lasagna, this keeps Italian noodles, but it adds salsa, refried beans, chili powder, cumin and black beans to the filling for a spicier take on the dish.

Finally, a co-worker told me about a butternut squash lasagna that she used to make. She couldn't find her recipe, but I dug around and created my own version based on one that appeared in Martha Stewart Living. The winter squash is paired with sage, an underused winter herb. It also stands out for its lack of tomatoes. A little cream helps meld the aromatic sage, the sweet squash and the salty Parmesan for a distinctly different take on a classic Italian dish.

mhastings@wsjournal.com

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Lasagna with Roasted Cauliflower Ricotta and Spinach

Makes 6 servings.

Roasted cauliflower ricotta:
1 medium-size head cauliflower (1½ to 2 pounds), chopped into ½-inch pieces 
2 teaspoons olive oil 
½ teaspoon salt, divided use 
1 pound extra-firm tofu 
¼ cup nutritional yeast flakes (see note) 
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 
Several pinches of freshly ground black pepper 

Red sauce:
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes with basil 
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme 
3 cloves garlic, minced 
½ teaspoon salt 

To assemble:
8 ounces lasagna noodles, broken in half, cooked in salted water 
1½ ups chopped fresh spinach, divided 
¼ cup chopped black olives 

1. For the cauliflower, heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, or spray baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Add cauliflower, tossing it well with oil. Season with ¼ teaspoon salt and spread in a single layer. Roast 10 minutes. Flip cauliflower with spatula and roast 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned and tender.

2. Meanwhile, crumble the tofu in a bowl. Squeeze with your hands until it has the consistency of ricotta cheese. Add the nutritional yeast, lemon juice, pepper and remaining salt. Use a fork to mix well.

3. Use a potato masher to mash roasted cauliflower into the tofu mixture. Alternatively, pulse the mixture a few times in a food processor. Set aside.

4. To prepare the sauce, mix all the ingredients together and set aside.

5. For the assembly, set oven to 350 degrees. Pour a thin layer of red sauce on the bottom of an 8-inch square casserole. Line with a layer of noodles. Spread with one-third of the cauliflower ricotta. Layer with ¾ cup of spinach leaves. Pour on about a cup of sauce. Repeat to form a second layer. For the top layer, start with noodles, then sauce, then ricotta. Instead of spinach, sprinkle with a layer of olives and press it into the cauliflower ricotta.

6. Bake 40 minutes, until the top is browned.

Note: Nutritional yeast, sold in natural-food stores and some supermarkets, is a deactivated yeast that is popular with vegans and vegetarians because it is a source of protein and B-complex vitamins.

Variations:

Instead of (or in addition to) olives, place thinly sliced fresh tomatoes on top.

•Tuck ¼ cup of big cloves of roasted garlic into the layer.

•Sauté some mushrooms and add them right under the spinach.

•Chop a roasted red pepper into the sauce.

Adapted from "Appetite for Reduction" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Submitted by Ashley Haynes.

Veggie (Spinach, Mushroom and Carrot)
Lasagna

6 lasagna noodles
4 carrots, thinly sliced
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
16 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 green pepper, chopped
1 26-ounce jar spaghetti sauce
½ teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
½ teaspoon salt
2 egg whites
1 24-ounce carton nonfat cottage cheese
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
1 8-ounce package shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Cook noodles in boiling water. Drain, rinse and cover with cold water.

2. Meanwhile, sauté carrots, onions and garlic in olive oil until slightly softened. Add mushrooms and sauté until liquid is almost evaporated. Add green pepper, spaghetti sauce, oregano, basil and salt. Simmer for about 1 hour until vegetables are tender.

3. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat egg whites with cottage cheese and Parmesan cheese. Add spinach and mix well.

4. Spread small amount of sauce in bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Cover with 3 noodles, ½ of cheese mixture, then ½ of sauce. Repeat noodle, cheese and sauce layers. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake 30 to 40 minutes until bubbly and cheese is melted.

Submitted by Kathleen Rohde.

Butternut Squash Lasagna

3½ pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pound whole-milk ricotta cheese
2 cups finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 6.5 ounces), divided
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 large egg yolks
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup loosely packed fresh sage leaves, coarsely chopped
6 to 8 lasagna noodles, cooked

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Toss squash, oil and 1 teaspoon salt on a baking sheet. Season generously with pepper. Bake until light gold and tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool. (Alternatively, whole or halved butternut squash can be baked for about 1 hour or until tender. Then the seeds should be scooped out and discarded, and the flesh scraped from the peel and mashed in a bowl with salt and pepper.)

2. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees. Combine ricotta, 1½ cups Parmesan, cream, yolks and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Season with salt.

3. Melt butter in a small sauté pan over medium-high heat. As soon as butter starts to sizzle, add sage and simmer about 1 minute.

4. Place squash in a medium bowl and mash half of it with the back of a wooden spoon, leaving the other half in whole pieces. Gently stir in sage-butter mixture. Season with salt and pepper if needed.

5. Spread ½ cup of ricotta mixture in a 8- or 9-inch square baking dish. Top with a layer of noodles. Cut noodles to fit pan as needed; it's OK to overlap them a bit. Spread half of the butternut squash mixture over noodles. Top with a layer of noodles. Spread 1 cup of ricotta mixture over noodles. Repeat layering once more (noodles, squash, noodles, ricotta). Sprinkle remaining ½ cup of Parmesan over ricotta mixture.

6. Place baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake until cheese is golden and bubbling, 30 to 35 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living.

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

2 medium zucchini, cut into ¼-inch coins
2 medium summer squash, cut into ¼-inch coins
2 large red peppers, cut into half-inch chunks
1 large sweet onion, cut into 1-inch wedges
1 teaspoon salt, divided use
1 teaspoon pepper, divided use
8 to 10 ounces white mushrooms, quartered
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons butter
2½ tablespoons flour
3½ cups milk
3/8 teaspoon nutmeg
¼ cup fresh parsley, minced (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh basil
12 to 14 lasagna noodles
9 ounces Fontina cheese, shredded
¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray 2 large rimmed baking sheets with cooking oil spray; spread the 4 vegetables in single layer. Spray vegetables with cooking spray. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper.

2. Roast 30 minutes or until edges are browned, stirring halfway through. Put in bowl.

3. Finely chop mushrooms in food processor. Heat olive oil in large, nonstick skillet. Add mushrooms and cook 6 minutes on medium-high heat until liquid is evaporated. Lower heat to medium, stir in garlic, remaining half teaspoon salt and remaining half teaspoon pepper, and cook 1 minute. Add butter and melt. Stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Whisk in milk and nutmeg, and bring to a boil. Decrease heat to medium and simmer 8 to 10 minutes, stirring until thick. Remove from heat and stir in basil and parsley, if using.

4. Cook noodles 9 minutes or until al dente; drain, then rinse in cold water. Spray a 10-by-14-inch deep baking dish. Stir together the cheese. Spread ½ cup mushroom mixture onto bottom of dish. Add 3½ noodles, ½ cup sauce, a third of the vegetables, ½ cup cheese. Repeat twice for a total of 3 layers. Pour the rest of the sauce on top, then sprinkle with remaining cheese.

5. Cover with foil, bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Increase heat to 500, remove foil and cook 12 minutes, until browned.

6. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Adapted from the December 2009 issue of Family Circle magazine. Submitted by Nancy Nelson.

Black Bean Lasagna

1 15-ounce can black beans, drained
2 15-ounce cans crushed tomatoes, undrained
1 15-ounce can fat-free refried beans
¾ cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped bell pepper
1 cup chunky salsa
1½ teaspoons chili powder
½ teaspoon cumin
1 8-ounce container cottage cheese
½ teaspoon garlic powder OR 1 teaspoon fresh minced garlic
2 eggs
Pinch salt and pepper
6 to 9 uncooked lasagna noodles
3 cups mixture shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheese

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.

2. In a large bowl combine black beans, tomatoes, refried beans, onion, peppers, salsa, chili powder and cumin. Mix well.

3. In a small bowl, combine cottage cheese, garlic powder, eggs, and a pinch of salt and pepper.

4. Spread 1 cup or so of tomato mixture in bottom of the baking dish. Top with noodles, overlapping slightly. Top with half the remaining tomato mixture. Spoon all the cottage cheese mixture over tomato mixture. Top with half the cheese, then the remaining noodles, tomato mixture and cheese. Cover tightly with spray-coated foil. (Lasagna can be made a day ahead and refrigerated at this point.)

5. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Uncover and let stand 15 minutes before serving. (If you have refrigerated beforehand, add 10 to 15 minutes to baking time.)

Submitted by Lara Schantz of Clemmons.