Categories: Casserole, Lasagna, Main Dish
Ingredients
- Tomato and Vegetable Sauce:
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 medium onions , chopped
- 4 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 (28 ounce) can whole tomatoes , snipped to pieces in the can with kitchen shears
- 1 (16 ounce) bag frozen peas and carrots , thawed
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme , chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- Cheese Filling:
- 32 ounces ricotta cheese (regular or lowfat, do not use fat free)
- 2 large eggs , at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- Noodles:
- 9 no-boil lasagna noodles
- 1 lb pencil-thin asparagus spear
Directions
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Position oven rack in center of oven; preheat oven to 350°.
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Make the sauce: heat a large pan over medium heat, add in butter and olive oil; when butter has almost melted, add the onion; cook, stirring often, until translucent, about 3 minutes.
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Add in garlic; cook, stirring constantly, until aromatic, about 15 seconds.
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Pour in the tomatoes and their juice along with the peas and carrots; stir well and bring mixture to a simmer.
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Stir in the thyme, salt, pepper, and nutmeg; simmer just to blend the flavors and boil off a lot of the liquid, about 10 minutes.
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You don’t want sauce as thick as ragu—more like a loose tomato sauce but beware of a watery sauce.
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Remove pan from heat and set aside.
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Cheese filling: whisk the ricotta, eggs, and lemon zest in a big bowl; do not beat—the ricotta should not turn watery.
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Prepare asparagus: trim off any beige or woody ends; shave off the outer skin to ensure that the spears will be tender after they are baked.
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If you asparagus is not pencil thin, shave down the spears with a vegetable peeler.
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Assemble the lasagna in a 13 × 9 inch baking pan as follows: 1 cup tomato sauce spread across the bottom of the pan; 3 no-boil noodles; 1 ½ cups tomato sauce; half the cheese filling (use a rubber spatula to spread it evenly); half the asparagus spears (lay them tip to root in alternating directions); 3 more no-boil noodles; 1 ½ cups tomato sauce, the remaining cheese filling, the remaining asparagus spears, the remaining noodles, and finally the remaining tomato sauce.
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Cover pan with a layer of parchment paper, then a layer of foil.
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Bake for 35 minutes, then uncover the pan and continue baking until bubbling and gooey, about 10 minutes.
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Let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.