Let's just say I love lasagna. I have been disappointed that we can't have lasagna lately because of my husband's lactose intolerance (of course I asked his permission before I posted this). His intolerance is more towards ricotta cheese and heavy cream. Thank goodness we can still have other cheeses, milks and butters! He came home with a Cook's Illustrated Make Ahead Meals magazine issue and one of the recipes we had to try was the roasted zucchini and eggplant lasagna.
We have made this recipe twice and it has become our favorite lasagna recipe. This recipe is going into the favorites pile and will probably become a part of our regular rotation. The problem is it makes tons, too much for two people to eat. I have brought it into work and my co-workers love it!
Cook's Illustrated recommends that we use Barilla's no boil pasta and it definitely works. Also, for the roasted vegetables, I upped the amount of eggplant from one pound to one and a half pounds and that worked as well. I don't know about you but it's hard to get a full dinner from scratch made after a full day of work. Every time I have made this recipe, I roasted the vegetables the night before according to the instructions. Then allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 10-15 minutes and then place into a plastic container where I let it cool for another 20-30 minutes before putting it in the refrigerator. The next night, I assemble the lasagna and there is no need to heat up the roasted vegetables.

Roasted Zucchini and Eggplant Lasagna
Ingredients
Vegetables
- 1 pound of zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch dice
- 1 1/2 pounds of eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch dice
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 4 minced garlic cloves
- salt and pepper
Sauce
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 1 28- oz can of crushed tomatoes
- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
Lasagna
- 12 no boil lasagna noodles from an 8-oz or 9-oz box
- 1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese, about 4 cups
- 3 oz Parmesan cheese, about 1 1/2 cups
Instructions
- Move oven racks to the upper and lower positions and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Toss the diced zucchini and eggplant with garlic, salt, pepper and 3 Tbsp of olive oil.
- On two cookie sheets covered in foil that is greased with olive oil, divide the diced vegetables and spread evenly over the cookie sheets.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Be sure to turn the vegetables occasionally and I even switch the cookie sheets' position. (As stated above, the roasting of the vegetables can be done a day ahead of time.)
- Add 2 Tbsp of olive oil and 2 cloves of minced garlic to a pot at medium heat. Allow the garlic to cook for 30 seconds, don't burn the garlic.
- Add the crushed tomatoes to the pot with olive oil and garlic. Add a little bit of salt to taste. Cook at medium heat for about 2 minutes. Bring down to simmer and cook until thickened for another 5 minutes. Mix in basil and salt and pepper to taste. Pour sauce into a large measuring cup and add enough water to make about 4 cups.
- In a 9x13 baking dish (I use a glass one), add about 1/2 to 1/3 cup of sauce and spread the sauce out.
- Lay three noodles over the sauce and make sure they don't touch each other or the sides of the baking dish.
- Spread evenly 1/3 cup of the roasted vegetables on top of each of the lasagna noodles you just laid down.
- Take 2/3 cup of sauce and pour evenly over the vegetables.
- Pour 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese over the sauce.
- Repeat steps 8-11 twice.
- For the final layer, lay three noodles on the top and spread evenly the remaining (approximately) 1 cup of sauce over the noodles. Be sure to cover the noodles entirely. Then pour 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and move your oven rack to the middle position.
- Cover the 9x13 baking dish with foil that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
- Bake for 25 minutes. Then, remove foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes until the cheese is "spotty" brown.
- Allow the lasagna to cool for at least 15 minutes.
Notes
I hope you try this dish because it's completely worth it! Do you have a favorite lasagna recipe? Which one's your favorite? I would love for you to share with me links. Thanks!
indigo pathfinder says
i read the recipe several times, and although i’ve been known to misunderstand
recipes, or misread them at least,
i couldn’t find a heat for the oven and roasting the zucchini and eggplant
maybe it’s there somewhere
Julie Deily says
It’s definitely there, the first instruction #1, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Hope you enjoy it if you make it!
Gaby says
LOVE this lasagna!!! One of my favorite dishes and I’m obsessed with the texture eggplant brings to the dish!!
Eco Frugal says
We’re trying to eat better in the New Year and I’m adding this to my recipe list! One thing I will not give up is my cheese. 🙂
megan @ whatmegansmaking says
This sounds incredible! I love lasagna! And this definitely looks like a good version of it. Especially with roasted vegetables – I agree completely with you on their depth of flavor – yum! 🙂
Julie Deily says
I hope you try it. Thanks for visiting my blog, Megan. Your blog is so awesome and I hope we get to meet up again at a future blogger event. 🙂
Liana @ femme fraiche says
I must say that this eggplant and zucchini combination sounds absolutely delicious. But I have one pointer that I MUST press on you. If you know of a specialty noodle store anywhere by your house, you must must go there and buy fresh lasagna noodles. Makes a world of a difference:-)
Julie Deily says
Thanks for the advice. I definitely will try fresh lasagna noodles one day. I want to try to make my own pasta. I need to get a pasta maker or an attachment for my KA stand mixer. 🙂
Staci A says
It sounds yummy! I’ll have to try it for my hubby!
Katerina says
I know what you mean regarding weekdays. I have the same problem too. I am too exhausted to cook from scratch. But you found a nice way to make time consuming meal during the week. I love eggplants and zucchinis. This lasagna I am sure would disappear in a minute in my home.
Q says
Julie, the lasagna looks awesome! Making me hungry…I’ll have to try out your recipe sometime soon. Honestly, I’m really surprised that Lactaid doesn’t offer a wider selection of lactose-free dairy products. There’s a brand over here in Germany called MinusL http://www.minusl.de/105 which offers lactose-free products from butter to yogurt to various cheeses and even whipping cream…perfect for me since I’m not all into soy/almond/rice -milk based stuff. Wonder if Lactaid will start offering a bigger assortment if more people request it?
Darius K. says
That looks great! I hadn’t thought of roasted vegetable lasagna before.
I had really good luck this past Sunday with this recipe: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/lasagna/
The tomato sauce portion of the recipe is what really makes it sing.
Julie Deily says
Thanks for sharing the recipe. I think if you try this roasted vegetable lasagna, you would love it!