Friends Lasagna

I am not a lasagna person.  I've tried so many times, but there's something about a traditional lasagna that I just don't like.  I blame in on the grainy ricotta and the slippery noodles.  And for some reason, vegetarian lasagna is always something with spinach and white sauce.  Yuck.  Then I went to a baby shower for a friend from work and had this lasagna (made by another friend).  It's really tasty, vegetarian, has no ricotta and is easy to make.  This is a recipe that if I saw it, but hadn't tried it first, I would never have picked to make.  There's a pound of mushrooms in there and while I love mushrooms, Ryan is not a fan.  Even Ryan admits that the mushrooms add good favor to the lasagna and when he's overwhelmed by the mushrooms, he just puts them to the side (or on my plate). 

Friends Lasagna
adapted from my friend Amy W. who adapted it from Cooking with Friends (yes, the TV show)
makes a 9x13" tray

2-3 T olive oil
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb fresh white mushrooms, sliced
2 red, yellow or orange bell peppers (or any combination of colors), chopped
1  28oz can crushed tomatoes (I like Muir Glen's with basil)
1/4 c minced fresh parsley
salt and pepper
no cook lasagna noodles (amount varies depending on how you layer them)
1 lb mozzarella cheese, shredded (you may need more, depending on how cheesy you like it)

1.  Heat oil in a large saucepan.  Add onions and cook over medium heat until very soft, about 10 minutes.  Stir in garlic and mushrooms and cook until mushrooms start to release their liquid, about 5 minutes.  Add in peppers and cook 3 more minutes.  Add the tomatoes, parsley and salt and pepper to taste and simmer until sauce thickens, 10 minutes or longer.
2.  Preheat oven to 400. 
3.  Put about 1/2 cup of sauce in the bottom of your baking dish and smear it around to cover the entire bottom.  Line with lasagna noodles, top with 1 cup of sauce and some cheese.  Repeat layering (noodles, sauce, cheese) until done.  Make sure you cover the noodles with sauce to keep it from getting dry and crunchy.
4.  Bake until cheese on top turns golden brown and bubbly, 20 - 25 minutes.  Let sit 5 minutes before serving. 

Serve with Amy J's fall salad, some crusty bread, Italian sausage and a bottle of red wine and you have a delicious meal. 

This is my go-to meal for guests in the winter.  We also have it during the week quite often, I just make a half recipe and bake it in a 9 x 9" square pan.  As for customizing this recipe, I could see adding different veggies to the sauce or even cooking some sausage in with it.  My mom made this for Christmas last year and added broccoli which turned out pretty good  (I think she cooked it separate and then added it in the layers). 

Enjoy!

PS.  Sorry there's no picture.  We had already started eating when I remembered that I wanted to post this recipe. Taking a picture of the tray of lasagna did not look very appetizing (because I'm no food photographer, not because it looks gross when it's done cooking), so I decided it's best to go no photo.