Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

We couldn't not start off the year with a post -- though admittedly Alex is in Belize and this is something that we made several weeks ago and procrastinated writing about. Part of me would like to wax poetic about all of the wonderful things that we anticipate about 2008 -- graduation, getting our act together to start cooking things like paella and cake with fresh strawberry frosting, Batman: The Dark Knight -- but one of my resolutions was to stop making decisions too far in advance, so perhaps I should just say that we're extremely excited to keep blogging this year (starting again in a week or so!). Please keep reading! Happy New Year!

Though we made it before Christmas, roasted vegetable lasagna is actually a perfect dish to celebrate the new year. It's an old classic with a slightly innovative twist, healthy, satisfying, pretty. You can pretty much roast any vegetable that you like, and we chose our favorites. Also, you should feel free to experiment with other fillings as well, though pesto ricotta certainly works extremely well.

Ingredients:
2 zucchini, sliced thinly (1 yellow, 1 green)
1 tomato, sliced thinly
2 portabello mushrooms, sliced thinly
2 peppers, sliced
1 onion, sliced thinly
1 eggplant, sliced thinly
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
1 jar tomato sauce
1/3 cup pesto
2 1/2 cups mozzarella, shredded
2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup parmesan, grated
1 box whole wheat lasagna pasta

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Toss the vegetables in the oil and vinegar, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and spread them onto the baking sheets. Roast for about 30 minutes, until they are carmelized. Meanwhile, cook the pasta until it is just barely done. Also, mix the pesto and ricotta together in a bowl. In another bowl, combine the mozarella and parmesean. When the vegetables are done, prepare to assemble the lasagna by turning the oven to 325 and finding a large 9x15 inch baking sheet. Layer the lasagna by adding sauce to the bottom, then 3 noodles. Next add 1/3 of the pesto ricotta cheese, 1/3 of the vegetables, then 1/4 of the parmesean/mozarella mixture. Repeat twice, then the remaining parmesean/mozarella, and any leftover vegetables or sauce to the top of the lasagna. Bake for 40 minutes uncovered, and let sit for about 10 minutes before serving.