Comforting Vegetable Lasagna (Crock Pot)

Hi again! I'm sorry for the lack of variety this week, school has been a doozy. Between two tests and two quizzes, the only thing I had time for in the kitchen was my crock pot. However, this recipe will knock your socks off! Today I made crock pot vegetable lasagna for dinner.

This recipe has a lot of wiggle room, so you can add or subtract whatever you want in your lasagna. I chose to make it with just vegetables this time, but it is also delicious with ground beef or turkey! If you wanted to add meat to the recipe, you would cook the meat and drain the fat before adding it to the crock pot. I personally would sauté an onion with olive oil, then add the meat and season it with salt and pepper. The same goes for the vegetables: I know some people don't like mushrooms, so you can put whatever you like best in this italian classic dish.

This is what I used today:

1 zucchini, sliced into 1/4 inch slices, then slice those into halves
1 yellow squash, sliced the same way
1/2 Vidalia onion
1 package mini portobello mushrooms (the white mushrooms are perfect too)
1 package lasagna noodles (I only used about 10 noodles)
1 package ricotta cheese
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce*
(Cooks on low for 4-5 hours)

*You could easily buy a jar of marinara sauce in lieu of the canned tomatoes.

Take a look at all these beautiful sliced veggies!

First, spray your crock pot with non-stick spray. You don't want your lasagna to stick to the sides!
Then add a layer of crushed tomatoes and sauce so it covers the bottom of the pot.
Next, break the dry (You don't have to cook the noodles, yay!) lasagna noodles in pieces to cover the sauce. Here's what mine looked like:

Spoon out ricotta cheese to place on top of the noodles. I loveeee ricotta, so I went overboard in this dish! Check that yummy stuff out!

Then, add your vegetables as you wish! I seasoned the veggies with oregano and basil!

Add another layer of noodles, then tomato sauce and cheese. Repeat these layers, alternating between veggies and the cheese/sauce mixture until you reach about an inch from the top of your crock pot (it expands a little as it cooks).

Once I reached the top, I added sauce on top of my noodles, then a layer of shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheese. I then added a little cracked black pepper on top.

This is the lovely outcome of about 15 minutes of preparation. Doesn't that look amazing? My boyfriend is so spoiled, he has no idea.

This dish is a little messy to spoon out, and tastes infinitely better than a store-bought lasagna! Go for it y'all, its really easy and totally worth it!

I made some garlic toast to go on the side. Buon Appetito!