Making lasagna the traditional way is a very tedious process.  You make your own homemade tomato sauce the first day, then assemble the lasagna the second day.  You can either bake it right away, or freeze it for later.  And it’s amazing, right?

This recipe is for a quick lasagna inspired by Eating Well, where your crockpot does most of the work.  You do sacrifice the pretty presentation of neatly cut squares, but this is still a delicious dish!  And those of you who like a saucy lasanga will really appreciate this version.  There’s a bit of extra liquid, but just serve it with a slotted spoon, and scoop up the extra sauce with a piece of crusty Italian bread.

Tomato season is so short in New England, so this recipe is made possible by some excellent canned tomatoes.  Tuttorosso was kind enough to send me some of their canned tomato products to sample, and they were great as promised.  There’s nothing like a freshly picked tomato in August, but canned tomatoes are the next best thing and available year round.

Here’s the lasagna, ready for serving.  Grab a spoon and dig in!  Garnish it with freshly grated Parmesan cheese of course. 🙂

Crockpot Vegetarian Lasagna

2 c. part skim ricotta
1 egg
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1 (8 oz.) package sliced mushrooms
1 (10 oz.) package frozen spinach, thawed and drained well
1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes in juice
1 T minced garlic
10-12 whole wheat lasagna noodles
2 c. part skim mozzarella, divided

In a large bowl, mix ricotta, egg, Parmesan, mushrooms, and spinach.  In a medium bowl, mix crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and garlic.

Coat inside of crockpot with cooking spray.  Add 1 1/2 c. of the tomato mixture to the bottom of the crockpot.  Break noodles to fit into crockpot, and form a single layer of noodles over the sauce.  Spread half of the ricotta mixture over the noodles.  Spread 1 1/2 c. sauce over the ricotta, followed by 3/4 c. mozzarella cheese.  Repeat layers, starting with noodles, and then ricotta mixture, sauce, and mozzarella.  Add one more layer of lasagna noodles, followed by all remaining tomato sauce.  Cook on High for 2 hours.

Remove cover, and add remaining mozzarella.  Cover and cook on Low until cheese melts.

-Lightly adapted from Eating Well

Tuttorusso sent me the tomatoes as a gift.  I was not compensated in any other way, and the opinions in this post, as always, are mine.

• Main Dishes