I love lasagna.  My true Bolognese lasagna is so rich it makes the Bunny sick, so I only make it when he is on a business trip.  When we have a crowd, I make Crock Pot lasagna.  But sometimes it’s just the two of us; that’s when I need a recipe for 3 servings – dinner for us and lunch the next day for me.  This recipe is a guideline – I literally throw it together with what I have on hand – the bits and pieces!  Want it saucier?  Add some jarred tomato sauce.  Substitute pesto for the dry herbs.  Meat please?  Go ahead and brown off some sausage or ground beef.  Cheesier?  Always!

  • 4 lasagna noodles – regular or no boil
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 zucchini, diced
  • 1/2 an onion, diced
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 pound greens – this is chard from the garden, but frozen spinach works well
  • 1 cup diced tomato
  • 1 cup ricotta cheese
  • 4 ounces mozzarella – the pictures are not lying – all I had was string cheese!
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
  • kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon dry Italian herbs
  • olive oil for the pan
  1. Preheat the oven to 350.  Lightly oil a loaf pan with olive oil and place it on a baking sheet.  Fill a dish with hot tap water and let the noodles soak for 15 minutes.
  2. Heat a medium saute pan over medium heat, then add a little oil.  Put in the bell pepper and onion, and cook until starting to soften.  Add the zucchini, greens and tomato.  Cook until the zucchini is beginning to soften.  Season heavily with kosher salt, black pepper, Italian herbs and the garlic.  Cook until the garlic is fragrant, then add about 1 cup of water.  Bring to a boil, cook for two minutes to create a sauce, then turn off and set aside.
  3. Put 1/4 cup of the veggie mixture in the bottom of the loaf pan and spread it around.  Top with a lasagna noodle.  If you have to break it to fit, no worries.  If I am using regular noodles I always break in half.  No Boil noodles fit my loaf pan perfectly.  Spread 1/3 of the ricotta over the noodles and sprinkle with 1/3 of the Parmesan and 1/3 of the mozzarella.
  4. Repeat with veggie sauce, noodles, cheese until all of the ingredients are used up.  Pour 1/4 cup of water over the dish and cover with tinfoil.  Slide into the oven and let bake for about 90 minutes.  Let rest 15 minutes before serving.

*This recipe was made with random veg and cheese hanging out in the refrigerator.  Why 4 noodles?  That was what was left in the box!  It’s a bits and pieces recipe because no food should be wasted.