Moosewood Red Vegetarian Lasagna

Ingredients

Lasagna

• One batch of Italian Tomato Sauce
• 12 lasagna noodles, back in oven
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 1 pound grated mozzarella
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• A 9 x 13 inch pan

Italian Tomato Sauce

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 1 medium bell pepper
• 1 pound mushrooms
• 1 pound spinach or 1/2 a big plastic container from the grocery store
• 2 teaspoons basil
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes
• 1 6 ounce can tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 6 cloves garlic, minced

Steps

1. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or kettle. Add onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, herbs and salt. Saute over medium heat until the onion is very soft, about 8 minutes. Add spinach and saute until it reduces.
2. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, honey, and black pepper. Use a spoon to break up the tomatoes into bite sized pieces. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 20 to 30 minutes.
3. Add garlic and cook about 10 minutes more. At this point, the sauce can simmer for several hours.

Now you are ready to assemble the lasagna!

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Spread a little sauce over the bottom of the pan.
3. Cover with a single layer of noodles, using 1/3 of them. Break as necessary to fit.
4. Place mounds of ricotta here and there. Use half.
5. Add 1/3 of the sauce followed by
6. 1/2 of the mozzarella, randomly scattered then
7. Another 1/3 of the noodles, and
8. The remaining ricotta followed by
9. Another 1/3 of the sauce, which gets covered by
10. The remaining mozzarella.
11. Add every last noodle, and
12. The final sauce.
13. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top.
14. Tent with foil.

Bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil 10 minutes before the end. Let stand for ten minutes before serving.