Vegetarian Lasagna a La Arrabbiata

I have several variations of my vegetarian lasagna recipe, but I think this has become one of my favorites because it's so simple to make, yet so flavorful. This particular recipe was actually inspired by our trip to the Bahamas. We stayed at the Baha Mar resort in the Bahamas and there was an Italian restaurant that we dined at one of the nights. One of the things that I loved so much was how they brought a fresh oregano plant to our table to chop the oregano right in front of us and add it to the EVOO for us to dip the bread into. The smell of the fresh oregano and the taste was simply so amazing that when we got back, I decided to experiment with fresh oregano. Most of the time in the past, I've always used dried oregano, so I had no idea how amazing the taste of fresh oregano actually was. Therefore, I decided to try it out in a lasagna first. I wanted the fresh oregano to shine in this so I made sure to keep the recipe simple.

I have a couple of tips before you get started. I'm not sure if you have tried Rao's homemade sauces, but their Arrabbiata Sauce has become one of my favorites. A friend of ours had introduced it to us, and since then, I've come to love this sauce and use it in most of my Italian dishes, unless I make my own sauce. Also, I think if you're going to buy ready made pastas, I prefer the Barilla brand, but you may choose to use other pasta as well. Try out my recipe below and let me know what you think!

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Vegetarian Lasagna a La Arrabbiata

Ingredients:

- 1-2 tbsp of EVOO

- 1 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds

- 1 medium red potato diced small

- 1 small zucchini diced small

- 10-12 sprigs of fresh oregano; minced or chopped and some additional for topping

- 2-3 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese

- 1 24 oz. jar of Rao’s Homemade Arrabbiata sauce

- 1 packet of Barilla Lasagna Pasta (use 9 sheets to make 3 layers)

- 1/2 can of Hunts tomato sauce

- 2 tbsp of Thai chillies and garlic paste (grinned together)

- 2 - 3 tsp of red pepper flakes

- Salt to taste

Directions

1 - In a large pot, heat up the water and add 2 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of red pepper flakes and boil the lasagna sheets as directed on the box until they are almost al dente. You don’t want to overcook them since they will also cook more in the oven with the sauce. Once the pasta is cooked you will want to drain it and set it aside.

Note: Flavor the boiling water that you cook pasta in to infuse the flavor into the pasta.

2 - While the lasagna sheets are boiling, you can prepare the sauce in a non-stick pot by starting off with 1 - 2 tbsp of EVOO on med-high heat, then throw in the cumin seeds and let them sizzle for about 10-15 seconds and then turn the heat to medium.

3 - Throw in the potatoes and add a tsp of salt and stir them and cover so they cook quickly. They should be cooked in about 4-5 minutes.

4 - Throw in the zucchini and let that cook for a 2-3 minutes while stirring the mixture.

5 - Add the Thai chillies and garlic paste, 2 tsp of red pepper flakes, and a tsp of the oregano and mix it all together.

6 - Add the arrabbiata and the tomato sauce and mix it and let it boil up. At this point, you want to taste the sauce mixture and add anything else based on your preference. You can add more salt, garlic and chili paste, red pepper flakes, etc.

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Lasagna Assembly

1 - In a lasagna tray, pour a couple of ladles of the sauce mixture to coat the bottom of the tray so that the lasagna doesn’t stick to the bottom.

2 - Place the first layer of the lasagna sheets (3 sheets) on top of the sauce mixture and add sauce on top, then sprinkle mozzarella cheese, and lastly sprinkle the fresh oregano. Then repeat the same for the next two layers.

3 - On the top layer, you will want to make sure you have enough sauce to cover the tray so that it bakes well with sauce, cover it with cheese and fresh oregano.

4 - Foil the lasagna tray close and bake at 375 degrees in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the sauce and cheese are all bubbly.

5 - Remove tray from the oven, take off the foil and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes. Then cut into rectangle pieces for serving.

6 - Place a piece of lasagna into a plate and top it with fresh oregano for additional flavor. Serve with garlic bread (optional) or enjoy on it’s own.