Veggie Lasagna

I LOVE, love, love vegetables. I have always loved veggie lasagna. I have been in search for a great veggie lasagna recipe for some time. I found a few that I thought were pretty good, and decided that I would just mix and match my favorite parts. My family was very happy with the results, and so was I.

2 jars of spaghetti sauce **
1 box of lasagna noodles, prepared (I am a purist. Those oven ready noodles are mushy!!)
8 ounces of room temperature cream cheese (I use neufchatel cheese, it's lighter)
1 egg plant, drained, and cut in to bite sized pieces
1 small yellow squash, cut in to bite sized pieces
1 small zucchini, cut in to bite sized pieces
1 small onion, diced
1 clove of garlic
Italian seasonings to taste
1 to 2 TBSP olive oil
15 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 to 2 cups shredded mozzarella

-A few hours before you begin, slice an eggplant and let it drain, cut side down, on a paper towel. This will take the bitterness out of it.-
Combine the spaghetti sauce and the cream cheese together until it is smooth and set aside.
Saute olive oil and diced onions until the onions start to get translucent. Add zucchini and squash and saute until they become tender. When those are tender, add your bite sized pieces of eggplant. Add garlic and Italian seasonings to taste to your veggie mixture. Set aside.
Combine ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, and one egg in a bowl.
Now it's time to begin building your lasagna! Liberally spray a 9 x 13 pan with non stick spray. Evenly spread 1 cup of sauce over the bottom of the pan. Put down a layer of lasagna noodles. Spread ALL of the ricotta mixture over the noodles. Top that with half of the veggie mixture. Lay down another layer of noodles. Top with the second half of veggie mixture and half of the remaining sauce. Add your last layer of noodles and top with the rest of the sauce.

Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 45 minutes covered. Remove foil and top lasagna with mozzarella cheese. Bake an additional 15 minutes or until the lasagna is hot and bubbly.
Remove from oven and let it sit for 15 minutes before serving.

Yes- it is involved, but it is very worth it. The is full of veggie servings and the eggplant adds a fantastic flavor to the 4 cheese pasta dish!
** If you just can't do meatless (dad!), here is a tip; When I make spaghetti sauce I make a HUGE pot of it and split it up for future meals. That sauce has meat in it. I use that for the lasagna. TASTY!