Lasagna Using Dried Veggies

Food. Some people eat to live, but I live to eat. Are you with me?

With all the fresh produce from the garden (and my friend’s gardens) I decided to see what I could pack into a vegetable lasagna. But the last few times I’ve made it it was always so watery. So I thought – hey! – I should dry some of the veggies before I put them in there. And by dry, I mean really dry. So I used my new dehydrator (Christmas present) and dried some zucchini and roma tomatoes until they were reduced but not crunchy. I also dried some kale and sweet chard leaves; which I did dry until crunchy.

I made a tomato based sauce (can of diced tomatoes, can of tomato puree, onions, red pepper flakes, basil, oregano, thyme, salt, pepper, green bell peppers, garlic, red wine) and cooked that down until it was pretty thick. Then I layered up the lasagna with noodles, cheeses (ricotta with egg, guyere, parmesan) and the sauce and the dried veggies. When adding the kale and chard, I crunched it up and sprinkled it over each layer. Then I finished it off with a half jar of Trader Joes Three Cheese Sauce, just to make sure it had enough moisture.

I put it in my favorite baking pan (9 x 13) seen here. And if you are thinking this is the pan you’ve been seraching  for, you can purchase one from amazon.com by clicking on this link: USA Pans 9 x 13 Inch Aluminized Steel Rectangular Cake Pan with Americoat (or if you live in the Eugene area, I’m sure they have them at Pepperberries or Hartwicks).

And the result was exactly what I was looking for. The layers held together but were not too mushy or too dry. Perfect!

Yeah, I know. This has NOTHING to do with quilting. But a girl has to eat, right? Happy quilting!