Lotsa Veggies Meatless Lasagna

spiritussancto's Note:

after much fiddling, this is my version of veggie lasagna. feel free to alter as you like. good for clearing the fridge of left over veggie bits. keeps well, good for taking with for lunches. you can also prep and cook halfway beforehand and pop back in the oven for 30 min for an easy dinner party dish.

• Total Time: 2 hrs
• Prep Time: 45 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 15 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 12

Yield: 1.0 big pan

• 15 lasagna noodles , oven ready type
• 250 g cream cheese
• 250 g cottage cheese
• 1 egg
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
• 750 ml tomato sauce (I use 1.5 bottles no-name mushroom tomato sauce)
• 500 g Yve's veggie ground round
• 3 stalks celery
• 6 large white mushrooms
• 1 green pepper
• ½ large white onion
• 1 large garlic clove
• 1 tablespoon dill
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1 tablespoon basil
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese
• 300 ml green olives (standard small bottle)
• 500 g frozen spinach

Directions:

1. start the spinach thawing in the microwave or running hot water.
2. chop all the veggies and garlic and start stir frying in a little olive oil. use a large pot or deep frying pan (my big wok works) as you'll be adding the sauce to this.
3. while veggies cook, mix egg, cottage cheese, and cream cheese. I like to add a little dill, garlic powder and onion salt to this mix sometimes but not required.
4. put a layer of noodles lining the pan, break to fit if needed, do not overlap.
5. grate the cheddar and mozza, you can mix them if you want or keep them separate.
6. once veggies are soft add tomato sauce, olives, spinach, ground "beef" and spices.
7. -simmer for ten min to let flavors mix.
8. -spread a third of the sauce over the noodles, cover with cheddar (or 1/3 mixed cheese if you blended with the mozza), add another layer of noodles, then sauce, top with cream cheese filling, then noodles, sauce and finally the rest of the grated cheese, sprinkle with parmesan.
9. wrap tightly in foil, bake at 350f for 60 min.
10. remove foil, bake another 15 min or until cheese is bubbly and browned. it's better to over-cook then to under-cook this one as you can't tell if the bottom noodle will be cooked through, just be sure you don't over-brown the cheese.
11. let stand at least 15 min before serving.