Lately, whenever I volunteer to make a meal for someone, I make this dish for them. It is easy to assemble early in the day and then refrigerate until about one hour before dinner time. Roasting the vegetables in advance gives extra flavor to the dish.
1 box of oven ready lasagna noodles
12 – 14 oz of pasta sauce (I like Classico)
8 oz container of ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 – 3 zucchini, diced
2 – 3 yellow squash, diced
1 onion, diced
2 – 4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 – 3 tsp thyme or oregano
Dash of salt to taste
2 -3 tbsp olive oil
Toss the zucchini, squash, onion, garlic, olive oil, and spices in a large bowl. Transfer to roasting pan (I use 2 metal cake pans) and roast in the oven at 375 degrees for 12 – 14 minutes. Place in large bowl again and stir in ricotta cheese.
In a 9 x 12 (or thereabouts) casserole baking dish, grease the bottom only and spread a couple of tablespoons of pasta sauce on the bottom. Place one layer of oven ready lasagna noodles. Spread half of the vegetable-ricotta mix on top of the noodles. Spread about 1/3 of the pasta sauce on top of the vegetable-ricotta mix. Repeat once more – noodles then ricotta then pasta sauce.
Place one last layer on top of the pasta sauce. Spread the remaining 1/3 of your pasta sauce over the layer, then cover the sauce with the mozzarella cheese. Cover with aluminum foil.
At this point, you can put the lasagna in the fridge or deliver it nicely wrapped to your lucky recipient. When it is time to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake for 45 – 50 minutes with the foil on, until the lasagna is bubbling. Remove the foil and back for another 10 – 12 minutes, until the cheese gets nice and golden brown.