Spring Lasagna With Carrots, Peas, And Asparagus

Total Time: 2 hrs Preparation Time: 1 hr 15 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 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
• 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
• 9 no-boil lasagna noodles
• 1 lb pencil-thin asparagus spear

Recipe

• 1 position oven rack in center of oven; preheat oven to 350°.
• 2 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.
• 3 add in garlic; cook, stirring constantly, until aromatic, about 15 seconds.
• 4 pour in the tomatoes and their juice along with the peas and carrots; stir well and bring mixture to a simmer.
• 5 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.
• 6 you donâ??t want sauce as thick as raguâ??more like a loose tomato sauce but beware of a watery sauce.
• 7 remove pan from heat and set aside.
• 8 cheese filling: whisk the ricotta, eggs, and lemon zest in a big bowl; do not beatâ??the ricotta should not turn watery.
• 9 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.
• 10 if you asparagus is not pencil thin, shave down the spears with a vegetable peeler.
• 11 assemble the lasagna in a 13 x 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.
• 12 cover pan with a layer of parchment paper, then a layer of foil.
• 13 bake for 35 minutes, then uncover the pan and continue baking until bubbling and gooey, about 10 minutes.
• 14 let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.