Veggie Lasagna

[Anonymous]

Can I make it without pre-cooking the veggies? Will it work if I just slice them and put it together and cook it in the oven?

[Anonymous]

No, please pre cook them. My sister makes veg lasagna for us (we are vegetarians) and never precooks, and it's just not great at all.

[Anonymous]

I think it depends on the veggies. Spinach definitely doesn't need to be precooked. If you cut zucchini small, you could probably get away without precooking it. Same with onion. Carrots and eggplant would need to be precooked, though. I think this might explain the popularity of spinach lasagna as the vegetarian alternative.

[Anonymous]

Good to know. What other then spinach and onions would work. What about mushrooms? What else?

[Anonymous]

Colorful bell peppers, especially roasted. Mushrooms should be OK without precooking.

[Anonymous]

The thing is, those vegetables have a lot of water in them, and the more you put in there without precooking, the more watery your finished product is going to be.

I agree spinach doesn't need precooking. Eggplant definitely does. You don't have to precook mushrooms, but if you do, you'll intensify the flavor. (You'll also see that you need more, since they reduce in volume when you precook.)
For things like zucchini or yellow squash, or bell peppers, or for that matter onions, it depends how much you're using. If you're using a little, and slicing thin, you'll get away with it. If you're using a lot, that's a lot of water, and you should precook.

I like to soften the onions and mushrooms till they start to brown, and then put those, the spinach, the tomato sauce and herbs, and the ricotta all into a mixing bowl and make one big mash of it. Then alternate while assembling -- noodles, mash, cheese, noodles, mash, cheese.

[Anonymous]

Spinach most definitely does need pre-cooking! What a sloppy mess. I precook about 3lbs of spinach and then drain all the water out. Yields no more than 1.5 cups of spinach. All vegetables need to be sweated before baking in lasagna and of course onions need to be sautéed until carmelized. Raw onions only belong on sandwiches or in salads.

[Anonymous]

Definitely pre-cook. I make a roasted butternut squash lasagna and the hardest part is pre-cooking the squash.

[Anonymous]

Definitely pre-cook. I make a roasted butternut squash lasagna and the hardest part is pre-cooking the squash.

That sounds awesome.

I know there aren't nuts in lasagna, but have you tried putting toasted pine nuts in that? They go so well with roasted butternut squash.

[Anonymous]

it will be easier to work with the meatier veggies (carrots, potatoes, zucchini, eggplant and such) if you cut them on a mandolin in noodle thick strips...

[Anonymous]

If you need a shortcut, Trader Joe's (and probably other places--this is just where I remember seeing them) sells frozen grilled/roasted vegetables, and I've used the grilled eggplant/zucchini/pepper mix in veg lasagne with really good results.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Spinach most definitely does need pre-cooking! What a sloppy mess. I precook about 3lbs of spinach and then drain all the water out. Yields no more than 1.5 cups of spinach. All vegetables need to be sweated before baking in lasagna and of course onions need to be sautéed until carmelized. Raw onions only belong on sandwiches or in salads.

I thaw frozen spinach, squeeze the water out, but then add the thawed spinach to my lasagna directly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Definitely pre-cook. I make a roasted butternut squash lasagna and the hardest part is pre-cooking the squash.

That sounds awesome.

I know there aren't nuts in lasagna, but have you tried putting toasted pine nuts in that? They go so well with roasted butternut squash.

Actually, we adapted it from a butternut squash ravioli recipe and that was garnished with toasted walnuts so I could see doing a riff on that.

[Anonymous]

Definitely need to cook! Most veggies have a ton of extra water and just become a soggy mess. You'll want to cook them on their own first, then add to the mix. Pioneer Woman has a great veggie lasagna roll-up recipe that we love!

[Anonymous]

I don't know what your recipes are but I make thinly layered eggplant lasagna and never precook. Consistency is perfect - clean cuts in 5 mins after cooling - and the eggplant is butteriy and soft and yummy.