The Whole Shebang Summer Veggie Lasagna

When I began cooking this lasagna, I originally intended it as a zucchini portobello pasta.  But like most of my recipes do, this one evolved to include seemingly everything but the kitchen sink.  As I was sautéing my zukes and 'bellos, I spied this shiny red heirloom sitting on my windowsill and decided to throw it in (chopped of course).  Then I realized I forgot to add onion to the veggie mix so when I was cooking a walla walla with the garlic,  I tossed in a couple ears of fresh cut corn for good measure.  The result was a summer veggie lasagna that is about as seasonally delicious as can be.  It weighed ten pounds and we ate leftovers (gladly) for days.  

One hint, definitely buy no cook noodles.  I didn't jump on this bandwagon for a while, but they truly make whipping up a lasagna in under a half hour 100% possible.  In fact, I actually made two in under 30 minutes (not counting cook time), one for my best friend Kris, and the one we ate.  Whole Foods store brand makes a good no-boil kind if you're on the hunt. My other tip is that if you're out of ricotta, swap in cottage cheese.  This is advice from my mom, who also passed on wise nuggets like, "Don't use more than three strokes of deodorant because you'll get cancer of the armpit" (this is now known to be kinda true) and "Try not to pee during a thunderstorm, the toilet could electrocute you." But she wasn't lying (at least about the cottage cheese), you won't be able to tell a difference and if it saves a run to the market, go for it. 

The Whole Shebang SUMMER LASAGNA

2 zucchinis, grated
2 portobello mushrooms, chopped into thin slices
2 ears fresh corn, with corn cut off
1 jumbo tomato (the grapes int his week's box would be awesome too), chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 32 oz. jar pasta sauce (Christina Maser's garlic red sauce is perfect for this recipe)
4 cloves garlic (or more…is there ever too much garlic?), minced 
1 box no cook lasagna noodles
2 eggs
2 cups ricotta or cottage cheese
1/2 cup grated pecorino Romano or parmesan cheese
8 ounces grated mozzarella 
salt & pepper, to taste
coconut oil, for sautéing the veggies (I promise, your lasagna won't taste like coconuts)

In a large pan, sauté your veggies and garlic in the coconut oil.  I actually did mine in two batches, only because I was being inefficient (corn and onions were in batch #2).  Don't cook the veggies too much, and if they're a bit watery, it's OK, because that will help the no-boil noodles cook through.  Then, in a large bowl, combine cheeses, eggs.  Mix well.  My three year old was helping me cook…can you tell? Next, pour tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9x11 pan.  Layer noodles, then veggie mix, then cheese mixture, then sauce, until all your pan is full.  Top with all the remaining pasta sauce and sprinkle with any extra grated cheese.  Bake at 375 for 50 minutes.  Let stand for 15 minutes before serving so it's not runny.