Italian Sausage-Vegetable Lasagna

Andy finds lasagna with vegetables to be suspicious—to him, it’s not lasagna if veggies are involved. So to get around his hang-up, I decided to make an eggplant-and-squash lasagna that had Italian sausage in it as well. He liked the flavors a lot (and kindly picked out the eggplant with no fuss). This was a great use of my farmers market basket produce.


Italian Sausage-Vegetable Lasagna
1 eggplant, cut into slices
Salt
1 zucchini, cut into length-wise slices
1 yellow squash, cut into length-wise slices
Olive oil
Pepper
1 onion, chopped
1 lb. Italian sausage, casings removed
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cans tomatoes
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano
1 tsp. fennel seeds
1 (15-oz.) container part-skim ricotta
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
1 (16-oz.) bag egg noodles, cooked (You can substitute lasagna noodles, if you prefer.)
1 (16-oz.) bag shredded Italian-style cheese blend

1. Place eggplant slices on paper towels, and sprinkle with salt. Let stand 30 minutes; rinse eggplant slices, and pat dry. Place eggplant, zucchini, and squash slices on a grill pan. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until veggies begin to soften.
2. Sauté onion and sausage in hot oil, cooking until sausage is browned and crumbled (about 10 minutes). Stir in garlic, and cook 1 more minute. Stir in tomatoes and next 4 ingredients, and cook 10 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Stir together ricotta and next 2 ingredients; season with salt and pepper.
4. Spread some of tomato mixture in bottom of a baking dish; top with half of noodles. Spread half of ricotta mixture over noodles. Repeat layers once. Sprinkle top with shredded cheese.
5. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.