Vegetarian Lasagna / Veggie Lasagna Recipe

My knowledge about Italian food was limited to Pizza and Pasta. Mumbai, though known as Mega City in the world,  has somehow failed to attract authentic ethnic restaurants. The international fast-food giants like Pizza Hut, Dominos, McD have infected the city but they sells Indianised or custom made food to attract the customers. So, in the process the authentic taste is gone. As far as I know, Mumbai has just few ethnic restaurants but they are meant for upper middle class and rich people. So, people think 100 times before entering such restaurants, which are meant for upper class. I was definitely one of those! 

 I was introduced to Lasagna in Italy - the birth place of the cuisine- by a very dear friend of mine. The moment I scooped the cheesy dish and had it my mouth, it simply melted like a butter. I never ate such a fine lasagna until today. Today, the dark-gloomy-rainy atmosphere outside has what inspired me to bake lasagna. 

Ingredients: 

Sauce: 

• Mushroom - 300gms
• Red Pepper Fruit or Green Capsicum - 1 big
• Zucchini . 1 (optional) 
• Onion - 2
• Pasta Sauce - 500ml
• Olive oil to make sauce - 1tbs
• Oregano -  1tsp

For Roasting: 

• Egg Plant (Brinjal or Baingan) - 1 big
• Olive oil to roast egg plant

For Baking: 

• Lasagna Sheets or Noodles - 1pkt
• Mozzarella Cheese -  300 gms 

Procedure: 

For Sauce: 

1. Finely chop onions, zucchini and mushrooms
2. Cut Red Pepper Fruit long and thin
3. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan and fry onions until it becomes translucent
4. Now add red pepper fruit and Zucchini and cook it on a medium high flame by closing the pan for good 4 minutes
5. Add mushroom and cook it for another  4 minutes 
6. Add the 3/4 bottle of pasta sauce and the oregano 
7. Cook the sauce mixture for another 5 minutes by closing the lid

For Roasting: 

1. Cut Egg Plant into spherical slices 
2. Smear oil in a heavy bottomed flat and roast egg plants and keep it aside

For Baking:

1. Smear the oven tray with the rest of the pasta sauce evenly 
2. Lay lasagna sheets or noodles over the sauce without a gap
3. Add roasted egg plant and smear it with the sauce that we prepared earlier
4. Now again lay the lasagna sheets or noodles without a gap
5. Add the rest of the egg plant and smear it with the sauce and top it with the slices of Mozzarella cheese
6. Bake it in the oven at 280 degree C for 20 minutes or until the lasagna preparation gets baked

Serve the hot lasagna with fresh french bread. The entire process takes around 1hour and serves 4 people.

Note: I did not added salt in the sauce mixture as the pasta sauce itself contains the extra salt. One can also add vegetables like carrots, yellow squash, french beans etc. as per your taste.