Roasted Red Pepper Lasagna
Ed. note: I accidentally listed myself as the author of this post on its first day up. It is not, in fact, by me, but by FJ’s latest contributor, Mike. Welcome, Mike!
My attitude towards life is best described as needless panic, and that’s exactly what you get when you put roasted red pepper lasagna into the oven at about 11:30 the night before you need to wake up unusually early for work. Still, the pleasures of this recipe are undeniable (as are the joys of late night cooking, don’t ask me why). You get to play with fire! Meaning, it’s the roasting of the red peppers that does it for me.
So the following recipe, which I took from allrecipes.com, needed a major adjustment. Sure, you can broil the peppers after cutting them into quarters, as the directions here instruct you to do. If you choose to go that route, though, you won’t get that visceral campfire kick that you have when you hold a pepper over the gas range with tongs and watch it blister and burn. You can even just lay the pepper right on the burner grate. It smells terrific, it looks awesome, and dammit if that isn’t American then I want my vote back, Comrade Obama. You still have to stick the roasted peppers in a covered bowl or pot for about 20 minutes, and you still have to peel the skin after that—all of which can be annoying. But lasagna is not a treat for the weak. Frankly, it’s not really a treat for the strong, either. It’s just lasagna time.
Anyway, beyond the change in method, I made a few other adjustments as well. First of all, I sometimes like a little goat cheese in my lasagna, though that adds several other steps that I didn’t bother with this go-round. That’s a purely historical side-note. I did, however, add more parsley and more nutmeg than the directions indicated. Obviously, you don’t want your lasagna to be super sweet (like you!), but nutmeg is a perfect ingredient to complement tomatoes. The only other alteration I made was that, even though it didn’t say to do so in the directions, I talked on the phone with an intoxicated person for almost the entire cooking process. Holding a cell phone against the side of my head with my shoulder made my neck hurt, but it was worth it.
Roasted Red Pepper Lasagna
Reproduced from allrecipes.com, but with the adjustments indicated above.
Serves 9
Ingredients
- 4 medium red bell peppers
- 9 lasagna noodles
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon olive or canola oil
- 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 cup butter or stick margarine
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 1/2 cups fat-free milk
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1) Cut each pepper into quarters; remove seeds. Place peppers, cut side down, on a foil-lined baking sheet. Broil 4 in. from the heat for 20-25 minutes or until skin is blistered and blackened. Immediately place peppers in a bowl; cover and let stand for 15-20 minutes. Peel off and discard skin. Cut peppers into 1/4-in. strips.
2) Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions; drain. In a saucepan, cook red peppers and garlic in oil for 1 minute; add the tomatoes, parsley, sugar, basil and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. In a saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour, salt and nutmeg until smooth. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.
3) Spread 1 cup pepper sauce in a 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray. Top with three noodles, 1-1/2 cups pepper sauce, 1 cup white sauce and 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers. Top with remaining noodles, white sauce and pepper sauce. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting.
