Country Garden Lasagna

Ingredients:

• • Olive or salad oil
• • 3 med.-size carrots, diced
• • 1 med-size onion, diced
• • Salt
• • Ground black pepper
• • 1 (12 oz.) pkgs. sm. mushrooms, sliced
• • 1 lg. yellow pepper, diced
• • 1 med.-size bunch spinach (about 1/4 lb.), coarsely chopped (chopped frozen spinach can be used)
• • 12 lasagna noodles, cooked
• • 1 (14 or 15 oz.) jar Ragu sauce (any flavor)
• • 1 (14.5 oz.) can Italian-style chopped stewed tomatoes, drained
• • 1 (16 oz.) pkg. part-skim Mozzarella cheese, shredded (4 c.)
• • 1 (15 oz.) container part-skim Ricotta cheese
• • 1 tsp. dried basil leaves
• • 2 lg. eggs
• • Additional seasoning to suit person taste

Directions:

About 1 3/4 hours before serving: In 12-inch skillet over medium heat, in 1 tablespoon of hot olive oil or salad oil, cook carrots, onion, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper until vegetables are lightly browned. Stir in 2 tablespoons of water and continue cooking until vegetables are tender. With slotted spoon, remove vegetables to bowl.

In olive oil remaining in skillet and 1 tablespoon additional hot olive or salad oil over high heat, cook mushrooms and yellow pepper until golden brown and tender. Stir in spinach and cook, stirring until spinach wilts. Remove mushroom mixture to bowl with carrot mixture.

Meanwhile, prepare lasagna noodles as label directs but DO NOT ADD SALT to water; drain.

Reserve 1/2 cup vegetable mixture for topping. Into remaining vegetable mixture, stir Ragu sauce and stewed tomatoes.

Reserve 3/4 cup Mozzarella cheese for topping. In another bowl, mix Ricotta, basil, eggs, additional spices and remaining Mozzarella cheese.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In 13×9 inch glass baking dish, evenly spoon about 3/4 cup vegetable sauce. Arrange 1/2 noodles over sauce; overlapping to fit. Spoon 1/2 of cheese mixture over noodles; top with 1/2 of remaining vegetable sauce. Repeat layering with remaining noodles, cheese mixture and vegetable sauce. Sprinkle top of lasagna with reserve vegetable mixture and Mozzarella cheese.

Cover lasagna with foil and bake 30 minutes. Remove foil; bake 15 minutes longer or until lasagna is hot and bubbly. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes for easier serving.