Spinach-Zucchini Lasagna

Another classic Italian dish. Sauteed vegetables and strips of lasagna noodles are alternately layered between a cream-based or tomato-based sauce, and topped with lots of cheese. The layers are baked until the top is cheesy and crispy, and the noodles are tender in their sandwich of vegetables and sauce. 

There are many many ways of preparing lasagna, I guess. But the fundamentals remain the same.

Ingredients:

1. 1 tablespoon olive oil
2. 1 teaspoon crushed oregano / omam seeds
3. 1 teaspoon crushed herb de provence
4. 2 medium-sized yellow onions, finely chopped
5. 5 garlic cloves, minced
6. 2 zucchinis, diced
7. 4 cups washed and cut spinach leaves
8. Around 15-16 sheets of lasagna noodles (uncooked)
9. 24 ounces/680 grams of Marinara sauce (1 store bought jar is fine, saves time)
10. 1 cup grated or sliced mozzarella cheese (low-fat if you will)
11. 1.5 cups ricotta cheese (fat-free if you will)
12. 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
13. 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
14. 1 teaspoon salt
15. 1.5 teaspoons pepper
16. 1/4 cup Italian basil, cut
17. 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, cut

 Preparation:

1.  Heat the marinara sauce with the basil and parsley until it begins to gently bubble. Remove from heat. 
2. Heat the olive oil along with the crushed oregano and herb de provence. When the oil is hot, add the chopped onions and garlic and saute on low-medium heat until the onion almost caramelizes.Only yellow or white onions have enough sugar content in them to caramelize and turn golden (without burning). It takes about 15-20 minutes on low heat for the onions to caramelize.
3. Next, add the zucchini and saute with grated nutmeg for 7 minutes or so. The zucchini doesn't have to cook fully. Then, add the spinach and mix well. Remove from heat. The spinach will begin to wilt in the heat. Sprinkle salt and pepper and mix well.
4. Onto the assembly. Ladle some sauce on the bottom of a 9*13 inch baking dish. 
5. Break the lasagna noodles so that the length fits the baking dish. About 3-4 noodles should snugly fit in the dish. Soak the noodles in boiling water for about 6 minutes until they are cooked half-way. Remove the noodles from water and place on a dish.
6. Start assembling the lasagna.
1.  Place 3 strips of noodles on top of the sauce in the baking dish.
2. Spread 1/2 cup worth ricotta cheese on the noodles.
3. Place 3 more strips of noodles on top of the ricotta
4. Ladle about 1/3 of the prepared marinara sauce on top of the noodles
5. Spread 1/3 of the prepared vegetables on top of the sauce
6. Place/sprinkle 1/2 cup worth mozzarella on top of the veggies.
7. Now place 3 more strips of noodles
8. Follow with 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese
9. Spread another 1/3 vegetables on top
10. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of mozzarella
11. Place 3 more noodles
12. Spread another 1/3 of the sauce
13. Spread the remaining ricotta
14. Spread the remaining vegetables
15. Place the remaining noodles
16. Spread the remaining sauce
17. And finally, top with the parmesan cheese
7. I know, I have too many layers! But make sure to start with sauce-noodles and end with noodles-sauce-parmesan. Everything in between is up to you. Bake for 45 minutes in a preheated 375 F oven until the top is browned and crispy.

Cut and serve! You can alter the kinds of cheese and the vegetables you would like to add. And of course, an alfredo sauce would be much richer and fattier than marinara, but tasty nonetheless.  I didn't add much parmesan on top so the lasagna didn't really brown much on top, but if you like the crunchy cheesy top, please do add more.