Recipe of the Week: Summer Vegetable Lasagna

So, weekly recipes was one of my "organizing" ideas.  This will likely just make my blog even more jumpy.  I know I'm kind of all over the place in my "style."  But I've posted recipes in the past (usually just to demonstrate how ridiculous my sweet tooth is but); they always seem to be appreciated.  Also, I never kept up with the recipe blog I started, so I figure I'll just do it all right on here.  We'll see how this goes.

One last thing before I begin. Gotta give credit where credit is due, I stole the term (and idea for) recipe of the week from a DC friend.  Her blog just seems so well put together, and I've really loved the recipes. Hopefully recipe of the week will have the same affect over here.

Now, onto the first recipe.  Some things I love about summer vegetable lasagna: 1. one skillet = easy clean up (but if you are like me you are gonna stir some of the goodness right out of the pan and splatter stuff all over your stovetop), 2. yummy summer vegetables = cheap and healthy, 3. it looks pretty fancy pantsy when all done = you feel like a great home cook.  I got the recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe, and she got it from America's Test Kitchen.  

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped fine
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 (28-oz.) can diced tomatoes
Salt and pepper
10 curly-edged lasagna noodles, broken into 2-inch lengths
1 small zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
1 small yellow squash, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
1/4 cup shredded fresh basil
1 cup part skim ricotta cheese
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a large 12-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Drain tomatoes into a 2-cup liquid measure. Add water to tomato liquid to make 2 cups. Add tomato/water mixture and 1 teaspoon salt to skillet.

Scatter noodles into the skillet, layer tomatoes over the noodles and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, covered, stirring occasionally (so the noodles won’t stick!) for about 10 minutes.

Stir in zucchini and squash, cook, stirring now and then, until noodles and squash are tender, about 8 minutes. Add basil and half of the rictotta cheese and half of the Parmesan cheese to the noodles, stirring until the sauce is creamy. Dollop remaining ricotta  cheese over the noodles, season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.

This one is my very own. Almost looks like pizza.

I've made this a couple times now, and we both really like it.  The herbs and cheese make for good flavors, and the noodles and veggies are nice and hardy.  You'd barely notice it is vegetarian.