Amanda's Veggie Lasagna
12 lasagna noodles
½ lb. broccoli, broken into florets
2 large carrots, thinly sliced
2 zucchini, thinly sliced
2-3 mushrooms, sliced
2 Handfuls of spinach, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ c chopped onion
2 Tb butter or margarine
2 Tb flour
2 t chicken bouillon
1 t dried thyme
2 c milk
½ bottle alfredo sauce
½ c grated swiss cheese
1 c grated mozzarella
1. Steam or sauté all vegetables, careful to not overcook. Quickly sauté in 1 Tb olive oil and set aside. Prepare lasagna noodles as directed on package. Drain, set aside.
2. Sauté onion and garlic in butter until tender. Stir in flour, bouillon and thyme until blended. Gradually add milk and alfredo sauce. Bring to a slow boil. Reduce heat to low.
3. Add cheeses until melted, constantly stirring.
4. Layer noodles, veggies, and sauce (this makes about 4 layers). Sprinkle mozzarella over the top with any additional sauce and veggies.
5. Cover with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove foil and cook on broil until top layer has golden tint.
This is truly a delicious meal, however, I have to tell you a funny story about it. When Amanda first made this for me a few years back while we were still living on College Avenue I had to stomach it with a grin. After serving in Madagascar I got pretty good at stomaching food with a smile. I never told her this; in fact it will come as quite a surprise when she reads this comment. Anyway it was the broccoli that made it taste so awful. I did tell her it wasn’t my favorite dish (because I didn’t want her to make it again) and I could tell it was one that she really liked. Well sure enough a few months later she told me she wanted to make it again and asked if I liked it. I told her I liked it but I didn’t like the cooked broccoli in it. Well she most have a thing for broccoli or something because she argued its defense. Eventually we came to a compromise; she would cook the broccoli separate and then add it to her own. Once she did that the dish was to die for! I couldn’t get enough of it. Now it is one of my favorite dishes! And as long as she cooks the broccoli separate and then add it in the end I can still eat it with the broccoli. So the secret to this recipe is to cook the broccoli separate or steam the vegetables. This is a delicious recipe, one of my favorites! My wife is such a wonderful cook. I don’t know how I got to be so lucky. She cooks, sews, sings, plays an array of instruments (especially the piano), dances, and is overall just amazing! What can I say; I love her more than soup needs salt!
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